The Curse Of Time
by AlphaPaw04
Summary: The famed half-bloods that defeated Gaea have been called off on a mission that takes them into the Underworld. They think nothing of it until Kronos appears. The titan is still vengeful, and with the help of some extra power, throws the demigods into the future. The only way to get back is to solve the future's conflict, but can they actually do it? Rated T for violence
1. Chapter 1

Hello!

So, if you've read the Trials of Apollo, just know that this fanfiction's events will not be true to the canon stuff (in order for me to include all the characters). This takes place one month after the defeat of Gaea. I hope you like it!

"Look out!" Frank shouted, ducking under the drakon's huge tail before proceeding to slice it with his sword.

Annabeth heed his warning and dropped to her knees as the beast's huge tail swept over where she had been.

"Hey Drakon! Look at me!" Piper cried. The creature whipped it's colorful head around to stare Piper in the eye. "That's right. Keep your eyes on me."

Jason dropped Percy, and the raven haired demigod pointed his blade at the monster's neck as he tumbled through the air. The sword sunk through the drakon's thick neck with a sickening _squelch_.

It reared it's head and roared loudly, baring it's gleaming fangs.  
"Hazel! Now!" Nico cried.  
She nodded and raised her arms. Hundreds of knife sized crystal shards broke through the ground and floated in midair, surrounding the girl. She flicked her wrists towards the drakon, and they shot forward, embedding themselves in it's colorful hide. It screeched and stumbled backwards, obviously weakened. Blood leaked from it's many wounds.

Percy yanked his sword from it's neck and leapt off of it, landing expertly beside Annabeth.

"This one's tougher than the rest! One more attack should do it though!" She exclaimed.

"On it!" Leo shouted. "Grace! Gimme a lift! This guy's about to suffer defeat whack-a-mole style!"

Jason grabbed Leo and flew above the drakon. Leo fished around in his tool belt until he yanked out a hammer bigger than his chest. He quickly ignited it, sending flames racing up and down the huge weapon.

"Bombs away!" Jason yelled, and with that, dropped the curly haired boy.

"Leo Mcshizzle baby!" He screamed as he plummeted downwards. He held the hammer behind him, waited for what felt like a millisecond, until he was right over it, then swung it onto the beast's head full force.

The drakon cried out, then disintegrated into ash. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing.

"Woo!" Leo popped out of the heap of ash, fists in the air. "How's that for a grand finish huh? Jason, why don't you carry me when you fly more often? It's awesome!"

"Gee, it's not like you have a dragon that can fly you around or anything." Jason replied as he let himself drift to the ground.

"Yeah yeah. That's beside the point though." Leo waved his hand dismissively and began to dust himself.

"Good job with the crystals Hazel." Frank said, sheathing his sword.

"Thanks." Hazel blushed. She lifted the shards from the ash, then sent them spiraling back into the ground.

"Where's our next target Nico?" Jason asked.

Nico furrowed his brow, clearly concentrating. "I think it's-" his face suddenly lost color.

"What? What's wrong?" Hazel asked frantically, noticing Nico's disturbed expression.

"I-i-i-t's right on the edge of Tartarus." He answered, nervously glancing at Percy and Annabeth.

Percy looked at Annabeth, concern evident on his face.

"Do you want to stay here and let us get it?" Jason said, glancing between Nico, Percy and Annabeth.

"I'm fine. It just...surprised me, that's all." Nico shook his head. "I can go."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a trusting glance. "It's fine with us." Annabeth finally said.

"Are you sure? We could probably handle it if you guys want to catch your breath." Piper raised her eyebrows.

"We'll be okay." Nico, Annabeth, and Percy said at the same time.

"If you say so." Frank sighed. "This way then?" He pointed to the left.

Nico nodded, and the demigods began to wander in that direction.

They had been called in for this job yesterday. To Will Solace's great frustration, Hades sent Nico shadow travelling to each of the demigods' home to bring them to the Underworld, since there were far too many drakons roaming around. None of them were excited (Percy and Annabeth closed the door on Nico's face _twice_ before he managed to drag them along) but here they were, trudging through the Underworld in search of the huge dragon-like beasts. Not their ideal Saturday afternoon, but you can't exactly ignore a summons from the lord of the dead.

Leo though, had been especially tricky to track down. Nico found him chilling with Calypso at a local Starbucks, which was quite frustrating since he was dead. After Leo had a tearful (and painful...Piper didn't appreciate him dying) reunion with the other heroes, they set off to go kill some monsters, then maybe grab some Dunkin' Donuts and catch up with each other or something.

There truly was an infestation of drakons. The brightly colored creatures were all over the Underworld, quickly whipping all the powerful demigods back into fighting shape after a month of semi-relaxation. However, the fact that these half-bloods were especially powerful didn't explain why the Seven had to take care of it. Tons of other half bloods would love to test their skills against a drakon, but what Hades wants, Hades gets. Unless you just so happen to be immortal…

"We're here." Nico barked. The demigods halted abruptly.

About a football field's length away, was a huge pit. Darkness seemed to be coming of the pit like smoke from a forest fire. The sight chilled all the demigods to the bone more than the drakon lounging about ten feet away from it.

"Let's get this over with." Percy muttered darkly. He pulled Riptide from his pocket and uncapped it, so the bronze sword sprung into it's full, gleaming form.

Frank suddenly rested a hand on Percy's clearly tense shoulder. Percy glanced at him, confused.

"I've got this one." He said gently. "Piper, distract it for me, 'kay?"

Piper nodded and smiled, then turning to face the drakon with a much more fearsome expression.

Frank charged, and as he ran, his body thickened, his nose and mouth morphed into a long, colorful snout, and large, leathery wings sprouted from his back. Frank the dragon gave a mighty roar, and charged towards the drakon.

The monster sprung to it's feet, baring it's teeth and hissing as Frank went lumbering towards it.

"Drakon! Check me out! I'm veerrryyy interesting!" Piper cried, waving her hands in the air.

The drakon spun around to face her, and he must have found her extremely interesting, because he didn't look away until Frank had his jaws locked on his neck.

The drakon screamed and thrashed, but Frank jerked his head to the side and the beast went limp after a sickening crack! It exploded into ash.

Frank turned back into a human and stumbled back over to the group. "Gosh, being a dragon really drains me." He chuckled.

"Well, that's done and done, so let's go." Hazel said, eying the pit warily. "I don't like this place."  
"I'd call you crazy if you did." Leo replied. "Let's get out-" He tried to walk away, but for some reason, his left foot couldn't move. "What the heck?"  
"LEO!" Piper screamed. A tendril of smoky blackness had ensnared Leo's ankle, holding him tight. Piper withdrew her blade and barked "LET HIM GO!"  
The blackness faltered for a second, but held steady. Leo set his entire leg on fire, but it did nothing. Whatever it was clung to Leo's foot as though it's very existence depended on it.

"We gotta pull him out!" Percy cried. He ran up and grabbed Leo's hand and began to pull. The tendril pulled too, and Percy soon found himself struggling to keep his footing. Jason and Hazel joined in next, then everyone was yanking Leo away from the pit where the tendril had come from.

The tendril release Leo's ankle completely, sending the Seven and Nico barreling into each other.

"You okay Leo?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine but- HOLY HEPHAESTUS WHAT THE HADES IS THAT?!" Leo screamed, scrambling backwards, his eyes wide with rabid fear. Everyone whipped around to come face to face with the most powerful enemy they had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tartarus!" Annabeth squeaked, visibly shaking. Her usually intimidating demeanor had evaporated, replaced with that of a fearful toddler.

"Oh my g-g-gods." Nico breathed shakily, sizing up the huge being in front of them. It was made of smoky blackness, it's face a swirling vortex of dark, with gleaming, vengeful golden eyes. The demigods who had gone through Tartarus were shaking in terror, knowing that this monster could kill them easily.

It threw back it's head and laughed a cold, familiar laugh.

"T-t-that's not T-T-Tartarus." Percy said softly. His eyes gained a dark, pained look along with the sharp gleams of horror. "I know that voice, and those eyes."

"Hello, Percy. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Tartarus purred. "Since you destroyed me, I mean."

"What do you want Kronos?" Percy barked, holding his sword at the ready.

"Kronos?" Nico exclaimed. "But that's impossible. We destroyed him."  
"Yes, you did. But Tartarus here took pity on me, and allowed me to posses his body for as long as it took to get my revenge on you puny, insignificant half-breeds." Tartarus hissed.

"N-no." Annabeth breathed, backing away. "This can't be happening."  
"Go away!" Piper shrieked. Percy started to walk away, since her charmspeak had gotten really powerful, but Jason, who had grown used to his girlfriend's persuasive voice, stopped him.

Tartarus looked puzzled for a second, and took a step back, before shaking off the effects of Piper's words. "Not now dearest."

She paled, trembling.

"Since I am inhabiting a body of such power," Tartarus examined himself, "my own powers have been increased by a tenfold. I could destroy you easily, however, that would be quick, and you would just go to Eylsium, so that's quite a waste of all this strength."

Everyone drew their weapons as Tartarus, or Kronos, took another step forward. "So I've been working on a little curse just for you eight."  
"How did you know we'd be here?" Nico shouted.

"I released those drakons you've been hunting, fool. I told Hades you would be the best for the job." Tartarus replied, sounding very pleased with himself. "No more questions. Let's get this show on the road." He pointed to the demigods' right, and a swirl of energy began to form. In mere seconds it was a crazy vortex of pure power, almost as tall as Tartarus himself. Dust and rocks were sucked into it, and the half-bloods had to fight it's insane pull of power with all their strength. Jason tried to at least calm the raging winds, but it did nothing. They were just too strong for him, too strong for any of them.

"I'm going to cast you into eternal torture." Tartarus growled. "Just like you did to me. You'll never age, never die, and you'll be stuck in a future where peace is just a happy dream. The fall of humanity."  
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Percy yelled over the noise of the furious winds. "YOU'RE NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO BANISH US INTO THE FUTURE!"

"With Tartarus's power as a back up, I'm powerful to do whatever I like. Now enough chit chat." Smoky black vines like the one that had caught Leo shot out of Tartarus's arms and ensnared a demigod, lifting them off the ground and holding them in front of the cackling swirl of energy. "You're about to go somewhere you can never return from."

"YOU'RE SCARED!" Annabeth suddenly shrieked.

Tartarus leaned in close to Annabeth, his eyes mere feet away from hers. "What."  
"You don't trust your own curse!" Annabeth cried. "That's why you've given us no windows of escape, you don't trust it! You're scared of us getting out!"  
Tartarus laughed. "Scared? You would hope so, wouldn't you, little demigod? The place I'm sending you is so dangerous, even if you had a chance to escape, you wouldn't be strong enough to even come close to seizing it!"

"Then how about you give us a chance? Surely it would not only prove you right, but I think it would be much more interesting." Annabeth continued. "After all, it would be quite amusing to watch your enemy fight for safety even though you know it's hopeless, not to mention it would be motivating to us."

Tartarus looked down, considering it. Every demigod was silently praying he would fall for Annabeth's bait, give them a single way of escape from his curse.

"Very well." He said finally. "If you can solve the conflict in this future, than I will allow you to return. Now, good bye demigods. See you never!"  
With that, the shadowy vines flung the half-bloods into the swirling vortex, and they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The world around them was a dizzying mix of swirling colors, giving them vertigo as they tumbled through it. The sensation continued for a split second, until the demigods were roughly thrust from it and onto a hard wooden floor.

Annabeth groaned, her body aching. She seemed to have landed on Percy, and the son of Poseidon was holding her against him tightly.

"I-is e-everyone o-k-kay?" Hazel stuttered as she staggered to her feet. Frank quickly stood and helped her.

"Yeah, we're good." Percy grunted. Annabeth quickly got off him and let him sit up. "Good job Wise Girl. We might just make it out of here alive."

Annabeth blushed and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks."

"Where are we?" Leo asked.

They looked around. They appeared to be in a barren room, with boarded up windows and empty gray walls with wallpaper peeling off.

"I don't know." Jason broke the silence. He and Piper stood up. "Do you think we should go outside and look around?"  
"NO!" Nico suddenly yelled. Everyone turned to look at him, to see him trembling on the floor, his eyes wide in fear. "There's so much death, everyone out there has a high probability of death, and thousands, no, millions of people have died around here! It has to be dangerous!"  
"We can't just camp here the whole time." Annabeth pointed out. "We need to solve the problem here if we're ever to return home."

Nico fell silent, but he still looked absolutely mortified.

"I'll look through the window and see what's out there." Jason said. He easily pulled a board off the window and peered out.

A quaint village was laid out in front of him. People in old fashioned clothing wandered the streets peacefully.

"Doesn't look bad. How about we step outside and look around?" He turned to face the group.

"If you say so." Nico said shakily.

"You can stay in here if you wan-"  
"No, I'm fine." Nico snapped. "I can handle myself, Jason. I just wanted to make sure you knew what might happen out there, that's all." He got to his feet, glaring sourly.

Jason gave the boy one last worried look, before he twisted the doorknob and flung it open.

No one saw them creep out of the house, thankfully, but as they began walking down the street they got nothing but weird stares. People whispered and pointed.

"We stick out too much." Hazel muttered. "We need different clothing."

"Where are we going to get those?" Percy asked.  
"Do you think you could manipulate the Mist to make us fit in Hazel?" Annabeth said.

Hazel's brow furrowed, then her eyes widened in shock. "T-t-t-there's no m-m-mist for me to manipulate."

"What? How is that possible?" Piper exclaimed. People's heads started to turn in their direction.

"The gods...they're gone." Percy realized. "How far in the future did Kronos send us?"

"Oh no no no no no. This can't be happening." Leo breathed, backing away from the group. "It just can't."

"Focus!" Annabeth barked. "Let's take this one problem at a time. Let's try to figure out what currency is used here, because it's highly unlikely they still use dollars."  
"Should we ask someone? Maybe just say we came from out of town?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. Piper should do it though, she's got the best voice." Annabeth nodded to her friend, who nodded right back and looked around.

"I'm gonna ask her." Piper pointed to an older lady who was walking away from a merchant stand. She hurried over and stepped in front of the woman as she moved to leave.

"Can I help you?" The lady asked.

"Yes, hi. I'm sorry, I'm from out of town, what currency do you use here?" Piper smiled sweetly.

"Out of town? You must mean the interior." The woman looked down, puzzled. "I didn't know we used different currencies. Oh well. We use these coins of either gold, silver, or bronze." She pulled a round disk of gold from her pocket and held it up for Piper to see. "What do you use in the interior?"

"Er- uh- paper! Paper, money." Piper grinned nervously. "Okay, where could I get these coins?"

"Selling things, or some richer people offer money for anyone who does their dirty work." The woman replied.

"Do I have anything on me that would be considered valuable? I just moved here from- the- uh- interior, and I'd like to fit in here a bit more by getting new clothing."

"I'd think if you came from the interior you'd have the money to get new clothing, but you're clothing at the moment is very colorful, so I'd say you could buy at least two outfits if you sold your current clothing. There's a seamstress that way if you need one that would happily give you some new garments in exchange for your current clothes." The lady pointed down the road.

"Thank you so much, you have no clue how helpful you've been, bye!" Piper waved, then came trotting back to the group. "Did you guys catch all that?"  
Everyone nodded.

"I wonder what the interior is." Annabeth said thoughtfully.

"It probably has something to do with this huge wall." Nico said bluntly.

"Huh?" Annabeth looked up, and she saw it. At least fifty meters high, made of solid concrete, stretching across all her vision. "What on earth could that be for?"

"Kronos said this was the fall of humanity. Maybe something is terrorizing the human race, so they set up walls to keep them out." Leo said. "But why so tall?"  
"They must be facing some big time monsters." Frank said sadly. "So the interior is probably the middle of the walled in area. I'm starting to get this. Richer people get to leave in the center, farther away from the danger, and those that can't afford it leave near the border."

"Let's just go get new clothes." Jason said grimly.

"Wait." Annabeth said. "We'll probably need money for food. Let's only buy one outfit, save the rest for food. We don't know the economical state of humans right now."

"Agreed." Percy nodded, then he started walking in the direction the woman had pointed out. People stared and pointed and whispered all over again, though Annabeth noticed Hazel, Leo, and Piper seemed to be a bigger subject of it. Now that she thought about it, everyone seemed to be of one race. Granted, some were paler and/or tanner than others, but no one was black or white. It was like every race had been mushed together to form these people. Would the noticeably darker skin of her friends cause any trouble?

"Do you think this is it?" Jason pointed to a small shop with a needle and thread sign in the window.

"That's my guess." Piper shrugged. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Oh, hello!" A young girl said. Her face grew red as she stared at the demigods. "Mommy! There's people here!"

A woman poked her head into the room from another room off to the left. She had messy red hair in a pixie cut and bright blue eyes. "Hi! I'll be right with you! Macy, go play in your room, kay?"

The little girl nodded, then looked the demigods up and down. "You're wearing such pretty colors." She breathed, then she ran into another room off to the left.

Piper smiled awkwardly in response.

The woman came out of the other room. "How may I help you?"

"We have no money, so we were wondering if we could trade these clothes for a new set that would fit in around here a bit more?" Piper asked.

The woman frowned. "No money huh. Yeah, I can definitely get you some new garments for your current ones, but would you like some actual money instead of a second set? Food's been tricky to come by since Wall Maria's residents took refuge here."

"That would be great, thanks." Piper replied.

"So, who's first?" The woman regained her cheery look.

Jason nudged Piper forward.

"Alright! Follow me hon!" She tugged Piper into the other room. A variety of clothing was hung everywhere, and a small nook hidden by a curtain was in the corner.

"See anything you like?" She gestured to the rack of women's clothing.

"I move around a lot. Do you have anything that's easy to be athletic in that wouldn't stand out?" Piper looked down at her own clothes. "Something like this I guess."

"Well, your pretty skin is what's doing most of the standing out." The woman chuckled. "But I believe I have some things that would work."

She pulled out a simple white shirt, a pair of black tights and shorter olive skirt. "How's this?"

"That's perfect, thanks." Piper smiled. The woman handed her the clothes and Piper entered the changing room and quickly slipped off her tank top and jeans. She folded them neatly and pulled on the other clothes, though she had to button up the shirt. They fit well, and Piper realized she barely even noticed she was wearing a skirt. She stretched, and picked up her old clothes and pushed the curtain aside.

"Oh, you look stunning." The woman gushed. She took the clothing from Piper's arms and set it aside, then she dropped five gold coins into her hand. "Alright, send the next one in."

"Yes mam. Oh, I didn't catch your name." Piper turned as she was about to walk out the door.

"Hm? My name? Well, how did I forget. I'm Chloe Dare." She extended a hand.

At first, Piper was a bit too shocked to react, then she remembered her manners and shook Chloe's hand. "Piper McLean."

"Nice to meet you, Miss McLean."

"Alright, Annabeth, you go ahead." Piper pushed her friend into Chloe's room, then turned to the rest of the group. "Guys, I think she's a descendant of Rachel."  
"Really?" Percy said.

"Yeah!" Piper squealed.

"What are you basing that off? Their hair?" Hazel tilted her head.

"That, and her last name's Dare! Isn't that cool?" Piper exclaimed.

"That means Rachel eventually stops being the Oracle." Nico said.

"Hm. I wonder who she ends up with." Leo grinned.

"This isn't at all what I expected when Kronos said we would be sent into eternal torture. This place isn't home, don't get me wrong, but it's not bad." Frank said. "Maybe he made a mistake?"  
"I doubt it," Percy said drily. "There's still that wall…"

"Trump became president, didn't he?" Leo smirked. "Maybe that's why it's there."  
Jason had bite his fist to stop himself from laughing, though his shoulders still shook with silent giggles.

Annabeth came out, wearing a tight brown vest with a white short sleeved undershirt and a long brown skirt that nearly reached her ankles. Chloe called Hazel in next.

"Isn't that skirt hard to move around in?" Piper asked.

"Kind of, but I'll manage. Besides, it lets me hide my knife." She pulled the skirt far to the right, and the tightness on her left leg showed the shape of her dagger strapped to her thigh.

"Fair enough." Piper shrugged.

"Excuse me!" The little girl from earlier had apparently come back from her room, and was now tugging on Piper's skirt.

"Yes?" Piper squated down to look the girl in the eyes, smiling softly.

"Why is your skin so dark?" She asked, lightly touching Piper's exposed forearm. Piper blushed.

"My father was a man with dark skin, and my mom had light skin, so I'm kind of a mix." She answered.

"Well, you're really pretty." The girl said.

"Oh, well thank you!" Piper grinned. "You're pretty too."

"Thanks." The girl looked at the ground shyly.

"Macy! Could you get me a glass of water?" Chloe's voice called.

"Yes ma!" The girl, Macy said, and she ran into the room she had come from.

"She's cute." Frank remarked.

"Yeah." Percy agreed. "I'm seriously starting to doubt Kronos on this one."  
"Don't drop your guard." Nico hissed. "That girl has a high chance of death, just like everyone else here. Things may be peaceful now, but it won't stay like this forever."  
Piper frowned.

Macy came running from the other room, a cup filled with water sloshing over the edges in her hand. She stepped on the hem of her dress.

Piper rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground. "Percy."

Percy nodded and made the water stop in midair. The cup hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked.

"Yes mam. Thank you. Did I spill?" Macy got to her feet.

"Nope." Percy grinned. Piper shifted to the side, and revealed the cup shaped water, floating in the middle of the air.

"Woahhh…" Macy touched the water cautiously. "Are you magic?"

"Yes, but you have to keep it a secret, okay?" Piper grinned.

Macy nodded dutifully and picked the cup up. She held it under the water and watched with wonder as it fell into the cup without a single drop sloshing over.

"So cool…" She breathed. She slowly walked into the other room, staring at the cup in fascination.

"Should we even be showing her our powers? It could be dangerous." Nico growled.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Percy said lightly.

"We get caught and sent to labs to be experimented on."

"We don't even know if there's still labs." Frank said. "I think we're good, but if we're being tested in about an hour, Nico can say 'I told you so.'"

"Darn right I can, and I will." Nico smirked.

Hazel came back wearing a burgundy dress that ended at her knees with gray tights. Jason went in next, just as Macy came running out.

"Can you do more magic?" She asked excitedly.

Piper glanced at Leo and Frank. They nodded.

"I can do magic too." Leo knelt down next to Macy. "Wanna see?"

"Yes! Yes yes!" Macy grinned.

"Touch my nose." Leo whispered.

Macy did so, and once she removed her finger, his nose was on fire. She squeaked excitedly.

"What? What is it? I was going to your finger into a cat when you touched my nose, but it didn't look like it worked." Leo rubbed his chin. "Then what did I do?"

"Your nose is on fire!" She giggled.

"It is?" Leo tapped his nose, then made a shocked face. "It is!" He quickly put it out, then turned to his friends. "Do you guys think I"ll have a problem with setting my clothes on fire?"

"Maybe you should avoid using your fire powers if you can help it." Annabeth said.

Leo nodded.

"Macy, what's your favorite small animal?" Frank asked.

"Uhhh...I read about puppies in a book once! They looked so cute!" She exclaimed.

"You've never seen a puppy?" Frank said, surprised.

"No. In school we learned that people used to keep them as pets, but now any dogs inside the walls are hunted down." She looked down, clearly saddened by this fact.

"...Do you want to see a puppy?" Frank said gently, smiling.

Macy's face lit up again. "Yes!"  
Frank closed his eyes and morphed into a small white lab pup with floppy black ears. He yipped happily, and Macy looked like she was fighting a scream of delight. She scooped Frank up and snuggled him against her chest, and he licked her face kindly. She pet him and scratched behind his ears, before she set him down and let him grow back into a human.

"So cool…" Macy breathed.

Jason returned in a simple white button up shirt and brown pants. Percy went in next. Then Leo, then Frank, and finally Nico. Macy took great amusement in interacting with all of their powers, excluding Nico and Piper.

"Thank you so much." Piper said, shaking Chloe's hand.

"No problem Piper. Come back whenever you want." She smiled.

"Bye magic people!" Macy waved as they exited.

"Bye!" Frank waved back. They closed the door.

"Now what?" Nico asked.

"We find out what's gone wrong in this place and fix it." Percy grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

"I still cannot believe that girl had never seen a puppy." Frank said again.

"That gives us a good idea of humanity's standing right now." Hazel said. She looked around. "We should find somewhere to talk about what we've figured out and plan our next move."

"How about over there?" Percy pointed to the wall, where there was an empty area big enough for all of them to sit down and still have plenty of room.

"Sure." Hazel grinned. She ran over and dropped onto the ground, and was shortly joined by the rest of the group.

"Humanity is obviously hiding from something." Annabeth began. "We know that because of the wall. And I've heard people saying walls, plural, so there's probably multiple walls. The interior is probably the area in the center of the wall farthest from the outer walls, hence the name."

"Chloe Dare said that food had been hard to come by since Wall Maria's residents took refuge here." Piper said. "Something must have happened with Wall Maria that forced people to come to this wall. Perhaps something that is part of the reason there even is walls."

"Notice how she said refuge instead of just come to live here willingly." Jason pointed out. "Refuge means a condition of being safe from danger. So yeah, I think whatever triggered humans to build the walls did something to Wall Maria that made it uninhabitable, so it's citizens were forced to come here."  
"That must be why I sense so much death absolutely everywhere." Nico added. "People must have died while escaping from Wall Maria, so whatever it is that humans blocked out kills humans."

"It could be more humans. Like a different race or tribe or something. Everyone here has the semi-same skin color, and everyone looked at me, Hazel, Piper, and Leo strangely because of our race." Frank offered.

"Chloe did say our skin was standing out quite a bit." Piper muttered.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why the walls would be so tall. I can understand the height, it has to be tall to keep enemies out, but if I had that much material, I would use it differently when building those walls. I would have made spikes at the top." Percy commented.

"Did you notice that there were people on top of the wall?" Leo asked. "They had cannons and stuff up there. Whatever they're keeping out, they feel the need to be constantly keeping an eye on it."

"Hey, what's that?" Frank pointed above them, at a poster. They turned their heads to read it.

"'Join the military cadets today. Be the reason humanity thrives.'" Hazel read. "'Sign ups in the marketplaces and any military stations. Ask your local garrison regiment soldier for more information.'" On the poster was a man with a fist over his heart in a brown jacket, with the wall in the background.

"'Be the reason humanity thrives…'" Annabeth repeated. "That pretty much tells us that the enemy these people are facing are not human."

"What's a garrison unit?" Percy asked.

"Garrison, the troops stationed in a fortress or town to defend it." Annabeth replied. "I bet it was those people up on the wall!"

"Should we try to talk to one of them?" Nico asked. "Or should we sign up for the military cadets? The military is always a good place to start when you're trying to solve the problem."

"Talk first. Let's get as much information as possible, but we'll join the military afterwards, since being the reason humanity thrives sounds like resolving the conflict to me." Annabeth said. "Jason, Frank, go up the wall and try to find someone in the garrison regiment."  
"How?" Frank asked.

"Just ask around. See what you can find." Annabeth answered.

Frank nodded and changed into an eagle. Jason smiled softly and shot into the air with Frank. They both landed securely on the top of the wall, and Frank quickly shifted back into himself. Jason leaned over the side of the wall and gave the small figures of the demigods a thumbs up.

"Jason, I think I know what humanity is up against." Frank said shakily.

"Huh?" Jason turned to look at him, but Frank's eyes were fixed on the other side of the wall. Jason followed his gaze and instantly felt terror shoot through his rationality.

Giant humanoids lumbered through the ruins of a village just like the one the rest of the demigods were in. They had black stares and open jaws, and literally no clothes, but no...privates, either.

Jason began to feel light headed with fear. "What are those?" He whispered, staggering backwards.  
Frank grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the center of the wall. "I don't know. They're as big as the giants. But they can't be giants, we defeated them."

"This isn't happening…" Jason breathed. "This can't be happening."

"Hey, snap out of it!" Frank barked. "Let's focus on finding the garrison regi-"  
"Oi! You two!" A gruff male voice barked.

Frank turned, still struggling to keep Jason on his feet. "Yes sir?"  
"What're you doing up here?" The man exclaimed, dashing towards them across the wall.

"We saw a poster for the military cadets, and it said to speak to a member of the garrison regiment for more information." Frank explained.

"You found the garrison regiment alright! How did you get up here?" He was dressed strangely, with white jeans, knee high brown boots, a cream shirt, and a brown jacket like the one the man in the poster was wearing.

"We got up here the same way everybody does." Frank said hurriedly, feeling a bead of sweat beginning to form on his brow. This guy looked much too surprised. People must not be allowed to go up the wall.

"Only the garrison regiment has the authority to set foot on these walls!" The man snapped, confirming Frank's suspicion. "Is this your idea of a joke kid?"

"N-n-no sir! Not at all!" Frank said frantically. "We'll head down if you want us to!"  
"Well you're already up here." The man grumbled. "What questions do you have?"

"Uhh…" Annabeth hadn't told him what to ask! Crud. "What style of fighting is used in the military?"

"God. You're clueless." The man rolled his eyes. "ODM gear is used of course, with some hand to hand combat."

"ODM gear?" Frank repeated.

The man looked so surprised Frank quickly realized this "ODM gear" was common knowledge. He'd have to be more careful about what he said.

"I-I-I-I-I mean," Frank felt his face get hot. "Where's the nearest sign up station?"

"...In the marketplace." The man stared at him strangely.

"Okay. Thanks." Frank said quickly. "Jason, could you maybe snap out of it?"

"Is it his first time seeing a titan before or something?" The man said drily.

"TITAN!? Where?" Frank whipped around, his eyes searching for the Greek tyrants.

The man's look got even more weirded out. "Uh, down there?" He pointed to the giant humanoids staggering through the village remains.

"Oh." Frank relaxed. They weren't actual titans, that's just what they're called. "Uh, yeah. Come on Jason, we gotta go."

Jason stared at Frank for a second, his eyes unfocused, before he seemed to come back down to earth. "R-r-r-r-right. S-s-sorry. I w-w-wasn't expecting that."

"They're giants that eat people." The man remarked, making the boys' insides turn cold. "What did you expect? Magical faeries or something?"

Frank barely stopped himself from shouting _THEY EAT PEOPLE?!_

"Come on Frank." Jason tugged his friend's sleeve. "Let's go."  
Frank nodded. "Thank you, sir." He offered the man a smile, but got a withering scowl in return. He spun on his heel and marched away.

Jason and Frank leapt off the wall, Frank becoming a falcon half way down and Jason quickly gliding down the air currents.

"Well?" Nico raised his eyebrows.

"The wall is to keep out giant humanoids that these people call titans out because they eat people." Frank said grimly.

"What?!" Annabeth shrieked. "No! That's impossible!"

"That's what the soldier told us." Jason added.

"That's unbelievable." Leo breathed, running his fingers stressfully through his dark curls. "How did that happen?"

"No clue." Frank sighed. "But the man also said something called ODM gear is used in the military."

"What the Hades is that?" Piper hissed.

"I don't know. His tone implied it was common knowledge, and I didn't want to act suspicious. I'm sure we'll find out once we're in the military though. The guy said sign ups were in the marketplace, so let's make our way back there." Frank replied.

"Alright. We don't have any time to lose." Annabeth barked. She walked off, the demigods trailing after her as she led the way back to the shopping area.

 _Titans that eat people huh. Nico thought grimly. The number of people those things have killed is inconceivable. I can see why Kronos was so smug now. How are we going to stand up to these things._ Nico felt his morale sinking. _No. They might be sissies. You haven't even seen them yet, don't go assuming all hope is lost just yet._

"Say Jason, what did they look like?" He asked the blonde boy.

"Well, they all looked like boys, and they all had this set expression, like huge smiles." Jason furrowed his brow. "They had no clothes, but at the same time, no privates...Some were smaller than others. Fifteen meters is the highest one I saw, and five being the smallest."

"How did they move?"

"They kind of lumbered around, slow and klutzy, y'know?" Jason frowned. "And it was in a village like this, except completely abandoned. Quite a bit of blood all over the place though."

"I can sense a lot of death from that direction." Nico turned his eyes away from the son of Jupiter and back to straight forward. "There's so much, it's truly unbelievable. I'm talking in the hundred thousands here. These titan things are dangerous."

"We're here. Sign ups look like they're at that booth." Annabeth pointed to a small booth that was being attended by people dressed the same way as the garrison regiment. _That must be the military uniform,_ Jason thought.

"Hi. Us eight would like to sign up." Annabeth told the man.

"Names?" He asked, pulling out a pencil. A piece of paper was laid out in front of him, with many other names scribbled on it and another word next to it. Most said "Trost" or "Rose" and three of them said "Shiganshina".

"Annabeth Chase."

"District?"

"Hm?" Annabeth perked up.

"Where are you from?" The man rolled his eyes.

"Here." Annabeth said hurriedly.

"So Trost." The man looked at her as if asking for permission to write.

"Yes. We're all from Trost." Annabeth smiled nervously.

"Alright. Go to the training academy tomorrow morning. That's where we initiate you." The man waved his hand. "Next."  
"Percy Jackson." Percy stepped up.

 _Where is this training academy?_ Annabeth thought. _He didn't tell me, which implies he's either lazy or it's common knowledge. I'll stick with the cover up of being from the interior and ask around._

"Um, excuse me?" Annabeth tapped a woman's shoulder as she walked by.

"Yes?" The woman asked.

"Do you know where the training academy is? I'm visiting here and I don't know my way around." Annabeth shrugged innocently.

"As far left as you can go. You can't miss it." The woman pointed off to the side.

"Thank you."

"Do you think we'll learn about this 'ODM gear' thing in military camp or something?" Percy asked.

"We'd better." Annabeth leaned against Percy's chest. "We're clueless in this world. We need all the information we can get."


	5. Chapter 5

"I've slept on the streets before, but I've never camped outside of a place until they open." Leo said.

"Shut up Valdez." Nico hissed. "Some of us actually want to sleep."

Leo sighed and returned his eyes to the sparkling night sky. No one knew if there were any hotels in this future world, so everyone just hiked over to the training academy and settled down a couple blocks from it. Frank transformed into a huge brown bear, and, due to the boys insisting over and over again, the girls were using him as a pillow. Hazel cuddled with him though.

"Hey Jason." Leo whispered, touching his friend's shoulder. "Are you awake?"

"...no…" Jason mumbled.

"Okay. I'll talk to you in the morning then." Leo frowned. He fell back onto his folded up undershirt he was using as a pillow, feeling deflated. He couldn't have predicted anything even close to this situation if he had tried, it was truly bizarre.

He closed his eyes and let the soft sound of the wind hitting the wall lull him to sleep.

~:~

"Wakey wakey Flame Boy." Percy whispered, softly shaking the curly haired boy.

"Huh?" Leo groaned. He opened his eyes to see Percy's huge face blocking out the sun. "Oh my gods Percy! Move!"

Percy fell to the side and let Leo sit up. "That took long enough." The green eyed boy remarked.

"People are starting to go into the training academy." Annabeth said. "We should probably get a move on."

Leo shot to his feet hurriedly. Everyone was watching him, clearly ready to go.

"No breakfast?" He asked.

"Food is provided there." Jason replied. "Come on Flame Boy."

They quickly got behind three other people who were approaching the training academy. Two boys and one girl. The first boy was tall, with shaggy dark brown hair and spirited green eyes. The other boy was smaller, with yellow-blonde hair that ended in the middle of his neck and gleaming, intelligent blue eyes. The girl had shoulder length black hair and fierce grey eyes.

Frank managed to accidentally step on the taller boy's heel in a matter of milliseconds.

The boy turned, looking mildly annoyed.

"I am so sorry! I'm such a klutz." Frank turned bright red. The boy's agitated look faded, and he smiled a little.

"It's fine." He said. "I'm Eren." He extended a hand.

"Frank Zhang." Frank shook it, smiling.

"You look like quite an athletic fellow." Eren said. "We could use some muscle like that in our military."

"Eren." The light haired boy nudged Eren with his elbow. "Be polite."  
"I'm complimenting his obvious strength! That is polite." Eren protested.

"I apologize for Eren." The blonde grinned nervously. "He doesn't get out much. I'm Armin Arlert, and this is Mikasa Ackerman." He gestured to the dark haired girl.

"Nice to meet you." Frank turned to look at the rest of the demigods. "This is Annabeth, Nico, Piper, Percy, Jason, Leo, and Hazel." He pointed each of them out in turn.

"What regiment are you guys wanting to join?" Eren asked, a gleam in his eyes.

"Regiment?" Frank said, but was cut off by Mikasa.

"Eren, Armin, come on." She grabbed the boys' hands and began to drag them towards the academy,.

"There must be different branches of the military."Annabeth said. "Garrison is only one of them."  
"Great." Percy grumbled. "We needed another confusing factor in this situation."

The demigods followed Eren, Mikasa, and Armin into the academy, throwing worried glances at each other the whole time. What were they getting themselves into?

Three men were attending a desk with uniforms piled up on it. One of them held a clipboard with a list on it in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Name?" The man with the clipboard barked.  
"Eren Jaeger." The brown haired boy said. The man went through the list and marked something off.

"Size?" Another man asked.

"Medium."

A uniform was roughly shoved into Eren's arms. "Changing rooms for boys are two doors down to your left. Girls on the right."

"Thank you sir." Eren walked off, towards the changing rooms.

"I bet we didn't have to sell our clothes. They're just going to give us uniforms." Percy remarked.

"Shut up Jackson." Jason smirked. "Were you wearing your favorite shirt or something?"

"As a matter of fact, I was."

Jason snickered.

Ah, bromance. Annabeth thought, amused. She returned her attention to the man in front of her.

"Annabeth Chase."

"Size?"

"Medium."  
A uniform was forced into her hands. She turned and walked to the changing rooms, nearly bumping into Mikasa on her way in. She stepped into the small room and yanked the curtain across the gap, shielding her from the outside.

The uniform was a pair of white pants, knee high brown boots, and a light brown jacket with a symbol on it. The symbol was a gray shield like shape with crossed blades. There was no shirt, so Annabeth assumed that she would have to keep her undershirt on.

She quickly changed and stretched in the new outfit. It felt good, easy to move around in, and wasn't exactly ugly. She could totally work with it.

"Annabeth? You in here?" Piper's voice called.

"Yeah." Annabeth replied, pushing the curtain aside.

"How does it fi- woah." Piper's eyes got a bit wider. "You look hot in that uniform."  
Annabeth turned bright red. "Thanks Pipes."  
"No seriously Percy is going to drool over you-"  
"Why don't you get change Piper?" Annabeth chuckled.

"Right." Piper slipped into the room.

Annabeth exited the rooms and found Percy waiting for her in the hallway, dressed the same way as her. He did indeed go wide eyed, just as Piper had.

"Y-y-y-you look good." He stammered.

"So do you, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smirked. "So, where do you think we go now?"

"That Eren kid seemed to know what he was doing." Percy replied thoughtfully. "I've been waiting out here to ask him more about this place and the different regiments."

"Smart." Annabeth nodded in approval. "Way to use your head."

"Why thank you Wise Girl." Percy grinned.

Eren took that moment to walk out of the changing rooms. "Uh, am I interrupting something…?"  
"No no!" Annabeth said frantically. "We just wanted to ask you where we go once we've changed. We're not really used to all this."

"Oh." Eren smiled. "Well, you follow this hallway to the outside and there you're assigned a cabin with five cabin mates of your gender. You get to make yourself at home there until we'll be called to meet our trainer."

"Thanks so much. We're really clueless to all this." Percy chuckled lightly. "Say, what are the regiments again? I've got about as good of a memory as a batch of kelp."

Eren smirked. "The Military Police, who patrol the interior and keep justice, they serve under the king. The Garrison Regiment, who stands guard over the walls and alerts people if evacuation is needed, and in that case, keep the titans at bay while the citizens flee. And finally, the one I'm going to join, the Scout Regiment, or Survey Corps. They venture outside the walls, slaying titans and trying to regain as much land for humanity as possible." A prideful gleam appeared in Eren's eyes.

"So if you're looking to make a difference, the Scouts are the way to go?" Annabeth said.

"Definitely. A lot of people think the Scouts are stupid because of how many people die on their journeys, but they're wrong. The Scouts are going to save humanity, and I'm going to be a part of them." Eren grinned. "I'm gonna kill all of them."

Annabeth and Percy were too stunned to react for a second. This kid looked like he could hold his own in a fight, but exterminate all the titans? That was a tall order for a mortal to say the least.

"I wish you luck with that." Annabeth finally said as Piper exited the changing rooms.

"Thanks. See you around?" Eren said.

"See you around." Percy smiled. Eren grinned and took off towards the outside.

"What was that?" Piper asked.

"We were just gathering information." Annabeth answered. "We'll fill you in soon."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I am so so so so sorry the chapters look so weird sometimes! I swear I'm not doing it on purpose, I don't even know how it happens, but thank you to all those who let me know it looked weird. Thanks, and enjoy!

"Alright, so me and Hazel are going to be in Cabin B with three other girls." Piper said, examining the list. "Frank and Leo will be in Cabin E with three other guys, and Percy, Jason, and Nico will be in Cabin D with two other guys."

Nico turned bright red. "Why me!" He groaned.

"Bro." Jason turned to Percy.

"Bro." Percy replied. They fist bumped.

"What about me?" Annabeth asked.

"You're in Cabin C with that Mikasa chick we met outside." Piper said. "I don't recognize any of the other names."

"Darn it." Annabeth frowned.

"Don't stress. It's just a sleeping arrangement, you train with the rest of us. We'll have time to chat." Piper grinned. "Anyhow, those are the cabins," she pointed to seven fairly large buildings off to the right. "And that's the mess hall, where we have our meals. Breakfast is at six every morning, and dinner at seven. No lunch."

"No lunch?" Leo exclaimed. "This is an outrage!"

"These people have really harsh living conditions Leo." Piper snapped. "This is the best they can do."

"Geez Pipes, it was just a joke." Leo held his hands up in a surrender.

Piper shook her head and returned her eyes to the list. "Percy, Jason, Nico, you'll be with Jean Kristein and Connie Springer. Frank, Leo, you're with Reiner Braun, and Bertolt Hoover. Hazel, you and me are with Sasha Blouse, Ymir, and Krista Lenz. Annabeth, you've got Mikasa, Annie Leonheart, Nya Krahm, and Tanya Graine."

"Sounds good." Percy nodded. "Where's Cabin D?"

Piper pointed to the fourth cabin, and Percy heartily began running for it

"Let's go Death Boy!" Jason shouted, scooping Nico up and starting dashing to catch up with his, "bruh", causing Nico to scream "PUT ME DOWN JASON! I HAVE A FREAKING BOYFRIEND!"

Annabeth snickered as the three charged away.

"I'm guessing we're right next to those guys?" Frank said.

"Yeah." Piper nodded. "Annabeth, your cabin's that one. Me and Hazel are going to get settled and maybe meet our new cabin mates."

"Got it." Annabeth smiled, and took off towards her cabin. A pretty girl with long black hair tied back in a ponytail was opening the door and stepping inside.

"Hey!" Annabeth called. The girl turned to look at her. "I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm going to be bunking with you."  
"Well, hello Annabeth. I'm Nya Krahm." The girl smiled. They entered the cabin.

It was about as big as the Athena cabin back at Camp Half Blood. There were three bunk beds, one against the left wall and the other two against the right wall. There was a door leading to what Annabeth suspected to be a bathroom on the left wall.

Mikasa had already claimed the top bunk on the right. She was sitting there, her eyes unfocused and distant. The other top bunk was occupied by a girl with shoulder length brunette hair and icy blue eyes. Nya threw her clothes on the bed under the brunette.

"Hey, Mikasa." Annabeth said. The dark haired girl's eyes snapped back to reality and met Annabeth's. "Do you mind if I take the bunk under you?"

"Go ahead." Mikasa replied, shrugging a bit. Annabeth pushed her dress under the bed and took down her curly blonde hair. Her ponytail had come loose throughout the day, so she was re-tying it when the brunette spoke.

"Hi. Are you Annabeth or Annie?" She asked.

"Annabeth. I'm assuming you're Tanya." Annabeth replied.

"Yep. Yours truly." The girl fell back onto her bed. "I wonder when Annie's going to get here.

As if on cue, the door opened, and a girl stepped in.

She had choppy blonde hair pulled back in a bun, a noticeably pointy nose, and bored gray eyes. Annabeth suddenly became self aware. This girl looked uninterested in everything, and she looked like she could kick some serious butt.

"Wow. Talk about timing." Tanya grinned. The girl, Annie, payed her no attention, but instead went straight to the unoccupied bunk and settled down.

Annabeth furrowed her brow. Nya and Tanya seemed fairly easy going, but Mikasa and Annie on the other hand...well, she'd have to keep an eye on them.


	7. Chapter 7

"HEY! YOU!" The commander barked.

"Sir!" Armin slammed his right fist onto his chest in the salute.

"WHAT'D DO THEY CALL YOU, MAGGOT?"  
"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina sir!"

"Wow, seriously? Why would your parents curse you with such a dumb name?"  
"It was my grandfather sir!"

"Cadet Arlert, why is a runt like you here?" The commander leaned closer to Armin.

"To help humanity overcome the titans!" He replied, his voice growing squeaky.

"That is delightful to hear! You're going to be a great light snack for 'em!" He grabbed Armin's head roughly. "Row three about face, runt!" He spun Armin around and shoved him.

Hazel stared. Why was the commander being so cruel to his recruits? He had an example to set of course, but why insult them?

"What do you call yourself?" The commander said to his next victim.

"Sir! My name is Thomas Vanga from the Trost District!" The boy replied.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" The commander yelled.

Thomas repeated himself, louder this time. Hazel grimaced.

"Nobody here gives a dam!" The man moved on. "HEY YOU!"  
"Sir! I'm Mina Carolina!" The girl exclaimed.

"Is a worm like you the best there is to offer?!"

"Sir! I'm afraid that's the case sir!" The girl squeezed her eyes shut.

Annabeth tensed. She was next in the crazed man's line of fire.

"OI! BLONDIE? WHAT DO YOU CALL YOURSELF?" He barked, getting very close to her face. She quickly put on the most intimidating face she could muster.

"SIR, ANNABETH CHASE FROM TROST DISTRICT SIR!" She barked.

"WHY'S A PETTY GIRL LIKE YOU HERE? YOU'RE A WASTE OF MY TIME!" The commander roared. Annabeth flinched when a droplet of saliva hit her cheek.

"I'M HERE TO ASSIST HUMANITY IN GETTING RID OF THE TITANS SIR!" Annabeth replied. She wanted to say all sorts of nasty things, but she knew better.

"GREAT! THEY'LL CHEW ON YOU AND GIVES US TIME TO ESCAPE!" The commander moved on.

Annabeth wiped the spit off her face as the commander continued down the line. She noticed that he didn't speak to Eren, Mikasa, Annie, or a couple other people. What separated them?

"YOU!" The man had found Jason. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"  
"JASON GRACE SIR!"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE, YOU COCKROACH?"

"TO HELP HUMANITY PROGRESS AGAINST THE TITANS SIR!"

"YOU'RE ABOUT AS HELPFUL AS A TWIG!"

Annabeth grit her teeth. One more person until he reached Nico. Next to Nico was Hazel, one more person, Frank, another person, Piper, and Leo, and Percy.

"WHAT DO WE HAVE OVER HERE?" He had reached a taller boy.

"Jean Kirstein sir, from the Trost District!"

"And why are you here, cadet?"

The boy seemed a bit surprised at the question at first, then he smiled. "To join the Military Police sir, the best of the best."

Annabeth noticed many eyes shift towards Jean, hers included.

"That's nice." The commander remarked. Jean looked nervous. "You wanna live in the interior, do 'ya?"

"Yes." Jean grinned. The commander suddenly slammed against the boy, causing him to sink to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. Annabeth flinched.

"No one told you to sit recruit! If you can't handle this Kirstein, then forget about joining the Military Police!" He moved on. Annabeth kept her eyes fixed on Jean as he staggered to his feet.

"What the heck is wrong with your face you smiling idiot?" The commander said to the next in line.

"Marco Bodt at your service sir from Gene south side of Wall Rose!" The smiling boy looked the commander straight in the eyes. "I aim to join the Military Police and give life and limb at service to the king!"

"Well then," The commander said, his volume noticeably lowered. "That makes you an idealistic fool. You want the truth?" He suddenly leaned in very close to poor Marco. "The only use the king has for your life and limbs are as titan food."

Annabeth could barely contain her rage. These people had signed up to give their lives to humanity, and this man had the nerve to walk around accusing them of their faults! That was not a sound battle strategy to say the least.

Surprisingly, the commander skipped Nico and went straight to Hazel. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR SKIN CADET?"

"Sir! I am Hazel Levesque from Trost! My father and mother are dark skinned people, whose traits I inherited through genetics sir!" Hazel barked.

"ARE YOU SASSING ME WIMP?" The man roared.

"NO SIR!" Hazel replied.

When it was Frank's turn, the man struggled. Frank was a perfect soldier, being the son of a war god and all.

Then it was Piper.

"You should skip me and the next two people." She whispered before the commander could start yelling. He blinked, confused, but moved on.

"Hey cueball," he began walking towards a bald boy. "You're up next."

"Ohh, me?" He slammed his left fist against the right side of his chest. Frank visibly paled. _His salute's wrong_. "SIR! Connie Springer from Ragaku Village sir!"

The commander noticed his salute, and in a split second, had the boy hovering in midair, his bald head locked in his hands. "You have it backwards, Connie Springer. That was the first thing you were taught. This salute represents the resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people." Connie's face was beginning to stretch awkwardly. "IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE?"

Percy spotted a red haired girl eating a potato a couple rows back, and barely managed to hold in a giggle. She took another bite, and suddenly everyone's eyes were on her, the commander's included. She stared straight forward and continued to chew.

The commander dropped Connie. "Hey, you there. What do you think you're doing?"

The girl glanced around, obviously ignorant of the fact that the commander was looking at her. She took another bite, and suddenly the commander was in her face.

"YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY BAD LIST! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" He screamed. The girl swallowed quickly and saluted, potato still in hand.

"Sasha Brouse from Dopper Village at your service! Reporting for duty sir!" She exclaimed.

"Sasha Brouse huh? And what is that you're clutching in your right hand?"

Percy and Leo avoided eye contact with each other, knowing very well if they so much as looked at each other they would burst out laughing.

"A steamed potato. It sat there in the Mess Hall begging to be eaten sir!" Sasha replied.

"A theft. I understand." The commander said icily. "But here, why eat it here of all places?"

"It looked quite delicious, and it was getting cold, so I gave it shelter in my stomach sir." Sasha said shamelessly. Percy silently fell to the ground, biting his fist to keep from howling with laughter.

"Why? I can't comprehend." The man was growing less tolerant by the second. "Why would you eat that potato?"

Sasha looked confused, and Hazel prayed to the gods she wouldn't say anything stupid.

"Are you, asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know sir." Sasha said innocently.

Percy and Leo were silently dying of laughter, while the rest of the cadets looked at Sasha, clearly mortified. There was a stunned silence for a couple seconds, before Sasha broke about an eighth of the potato off. She extended the small bit to the commander. "Here sir, have half."

Frank had to fight his own giggles down now, and even Nico had cracked an amused smile.

"Have half? Really?" The commander's expression became so shocked Annabeth would think Sasha had just grown three heads.

Sasha grinned like she had just solved the problem.

~:~

"Man, I thought chief was going to kill Potato Girl." Connie remarked, watching Sasha run.

"I know. What a first day." Eren added. "It's funny, being told to run until the sun sets didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as losing meal privileges for the next five days."

Hazel smirked and exchanged an amused glance with Annabeth.

"I think she said that she's from Dopper. If I remember right that's a small hunting village up in the mountains." Connie said.

Something caught Eren's eye, and he turned to look at it. "Hey, what's that?"

Everyone followed his gaze to see a dull white wagon being pulled by a horse up the hill leading out of the academy.

"They're dropouts." Mina said. "They prefer to work in the fields."  
"But, it's only the first day."  
"That's the way it is. If you can't handle the pressure, you gotta leave." Eren said grimly. Annabeth fixed her gaze on the boy.

"I can't believe anyone would rather pull plants than fight." He added.

Marco stood, turning to face Eren. "I know about some of us, but you never mentioned where you were from Eren."

Eren smiled lightly. "The same as Armin," He rested a hand on his buddy's shoulder. "From Shiganshina."

Everyone looked surprised at this. "Oh, wow, that means-"

"You saw it, you were there that day." Connie cut Marco off.

Annabeth perked up. What were they talking about?

"Huh? Quiet!" Marco hissed, looking at Connie.

"The colossal one! Did you see him?" Connie asked excitedly.

Colossal? Annabeth thought. Perhaps a type of titan? Maybe it's related to this Wall Maria I keep hearing about.

Eren frowned. "Yeah. Yeah I did." His voice grew quieter, sadder even.

~:~

"They keep talking about this colossal titan." Annabeth said. She jerked her head towards Eren, who was surrounded by people questioning him. "I think it might have something to do with Wall Maria."  
"Maybe we should listen to Eren's conversation. It could help us understand more." Jason suggested.

"Yeah, you do it." Percy shoved Jason out of his seat.

"Why me?" Jason whined.

"Just do it Grace." Leo smirked. Jason frowned and moped over to the crowd around Eren's table.

"Okay, exactly how tall was he?" A boy asked.

"He stuck his head over the outer wall." Eren replied grimly.

So this colossal titan is pretty big, Jason thought. These walls are ginormous.

"Woah wait, I thought he stepped over the wall completely!" One boy chimed in/

"So did I!" A girl added.

"That was the rumor in my village too!"

"Nah, he was big but not that big." Eren said.

The colossal titan did something to the wall. Jason concurred. He must have busted it down.

"So what did it look like?" A girl asked.

"It had a mouth like a corpse, and no skin. Just muscles." Eren replied. Jason shuddered at the thought.

"And the armored titan? The one that broke through Wall Maria?"

Wait, the colossal titan didn't bust down Wall Maria? And who's this "Armored Titan"?

"Is that what they're calling it?" Eren said. "In all the panic it was just another titan to me."

"No way. So what were they like?"

Eren froze, his eyes wide, spoon in front of his mouth. He paled.

Oh no, he shouldn't have asked that. Jason thought. They're dredging up bad memories for him.

Eren dropped his spoon suddenly and covered his mouth, trembling, his eyes full of fear and sadness. The crowd watched him expectantly.  
"Come on, that's enough questions all right?" Marco said. "I'm sure h'd rather not relive everything he went through."

"Sorry, we didn't mean to-"  
"It's not like that." Eren cut Connie off. He ripped off a bite of bread. "Those stupid titans. They're really not that big a deal. If we focus on mastering the omnidirectional mobility gear they give us, then it's titan pay back time."

ODM gear...omnidirectional mobility gear! I bet Leo knows what that is.

"I've waited years to be trained as a soldier." Eren continued. "And all of a sudden the reality is sinking in. I'm joining the Scout Regiment, and I'm sending the titans back where they came from. I'm gonna butcher them all."

Jason blinked, surprised at the boy's ambition.

"Hey, are you crazy or something?" A voice called. Jason glanced over his shoulder to see the boy the commander had kneed in the gut talking. The one with the Military Police dreams, Jean.

"Not that it's my business, but signing up for recognizance is like a death sentence." He said smugly. Eren shifted to face him.

"I guess we'll see. Or at least I will. You seem content hiding in the interior with the MPs." Eren growled.

"Look I'm just speaking honestly here, kid. I think it's better than being some loud mouth bragger, tough guy wanna-be pretending he's not as scared as the rest of us." Jean smirked. The tension in the room shot up, and so did Eren. Jason shoved his way to the front, ready to tear the two apart if a fight broke out.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Eren asked.

"Stop it you guys." Marco urged.

"Alright sure." Jean stood. "Makes no difference to me." He and Eren approached each other, Jean being a good amount taller.

Jason tensed, about to insert himself into the situation, but a bell began ringing. The boys glanced toward the source of the sound, before returning to look at each other.

Jean sighed and cracked a grin. "Hey, I apologize. Sorry for calling you names and dismissing your choice of career." He extended a hand. "Put 'er there kid, what do you say?"

Eren kept his serious expression, but much to Jason's relief, he said, "Right. I'm sorry as well. He smacked Jean's hand with his own, then walked off. Mikasa followed him, and Jason saw the moment Jean fell in love as she walked by. Mikasa was a very pretty girl.

"Uhh, excuse me!" Jean stammered.

Mikasa halted, and turned to face a furiously blushing Jean.  
"I- uh- I just wanted- I mean- I've never seen anyone like you before. I mean uh-" Jean tensed, glancing to the ground. "I-I'm sorry. You have really beautiful black hair."

"Thank you." Mikasa said politely. And with that, she turned and walked away.

Jason felt his heart pang in sympathy for Jean as he ran after her. He shook his head and returned to his group.

"Jason, did you start that?" Leo said playfully.

"What! NO!" Jason exclaimed, taking a seat.

"Well, what did you find out?" Annabeth asked.

"The colossal titan didn't break down Wall Maria, the armored titan did." Jason said. "Apparently this colossal titan was big enough to stick it's head over the wall, but I don't know what it did."

"Oh, I should probably mention the walls aren't built like we think. I talked to Mikasa and Tanya about it, and they have four smaller villages that extend from the actual wall also surrounded by the wall." Annabeth explained. "I bet the colossal titan busted down the outermost wall and the armored found it's way into the main wall. We're in one of those outermost villages by the way."  
Leo yawned loudly. "Well, today was fun, but let's go to bed. I'm a sleepy demigod."  
"Wait, Leo." Jason grabbed his friend's wrist as he walked away. "I know what ODM stands for. It's omnidirectional mobility gear. What does that mean?"

There was a spark in Leo's eye. "If it is what I'm thinking about, you should be good at it." With that, he left.


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on Frank!" Leo tugged his friend along. "We're going to be late!"  
"I'm coming I'm coming!" Frank said. "Geez Valdez, let go of me!'

"Sorry, I"m just so excited to check out the ODM gear!" Leo squealed.

"You're creeping me out man." Frank remarked.

"That's nice, now come on!" Leo took off, furiously sprinting towards the crowd of soldiers. Frank jogged after him.

"IT'S APTITUDE TEST TIME SO LISTEN UP!" The commander barked. "THERE IS NO PLACE FOR YOU HERE IF YOU CANNOT PERFORM! FAIL, AND BE SHIPPED TO THE FIELDS! NOW, DIVIDE YOURSELF EVENLY BETWEEN THE FOUR STATIONS, SEVEN TO A STATION. CAN YOU MANAGE THAT MAGGOTS?"

"Yes sir!"

Jason, Percy and Annabeth were already in a line together. Leo slipped in before anyone could join. He had to see Jason on these things. Speaking of which, were they even what he thought they were?  
Leo peeked out and watched as Mikasa was being strapped onto a machine. Long cords attached to a belt around her waist, drooping as she stood there.

Leo fought a scream of excitement. Some of his siblings in the Hephaestus Cabin built something like this, and it was so much fun to use! Oh yeah, he was going to rock this.

"Lift her up." Someone said. The cords attached to Mikasa's belt began to rise, tensing as they went. Mikasa looked completely calm and in control as her feet left the ground.

"So that's what all these straps are for." Percy said. "I tangled myself trying to get them on at least three times."

"She makes it look easy." Annabeth said.

"It's not too hard. I used something like this before. Jason, this is why I thought you'd be good at it. You can manipulate the air to keep you steady." Leo smiled.

"Look, even Connie's getting the hang of it." Percy said. "This shouldn't be too hard."  
"Oh no…" Annabeth said quietly.

"What? What is- oh. Now that's just depressing." Percy followed her gaze. Eren was hanging upside down from his gear.

Jason raised a hand.

"Jason, don't. Once you've tipped you don't get back up." Leo said. "If you use your powers to help him, they're going to know something's up. We can talk to him later, we've still got a couple days to learn to use this stuff."

"WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION JAEGER?" The commander barked to the upside down Eren. "STRAIGHTEN YOURSELF UP!"

Jason noticed the snickering faces surrounding Eren and felt anger bubble up inside of him. He sent a gust of wind that messed their hair up and left it hanging in their eyes.

"Are you sure I can't help him Leo?" Jason asked. "The commander just told him to straighten up, so it has to be possible."

"It's not. Trust me Jason, don't do it." Leo urged.

"Next!" Someone hollered.  
"Good luck Annabeth." Percy said. Annabeth smiled and walked up to the machine. She clicked the hooks into place and stood, eerily calm. "I"m ready."

"Lift her up!"

The cords slowly began to rise. As soon as Annabeth felt the tension along her waist, she prepared for her feet to leave the ground. Once that happened, it was difficult. She shifted her weight according to where and how the belt was tensed. She remained in air for a couple more seconds before she trusted herself to look around.

Piper was two machines over and appeared to have it under control She glanced up and met Annabeth's gaze with a smile. Piper wobbled a bit, and she returned her full focus to keeping herself properly aloft.

Annabeth searched the ground for Percy's familiar green eyes. He gave her a thumbs up and a lopsided grin. The tension eased, and Annabeth realized she was being lowered. She shifted her weight to accommodate the new feeling. Her feet touched the ground, and she promptly unbuckled herself from the machine.

"You should be able to get it Seaweed Brain." Annabeth told him. "Just feel the tension and move your mass according to that."

"Thanks Wise Girl." Percy replied as he approached the machine.

"Would it be bad if I helped him stay up?" Jason asked Annabeth.

"Yes. You might not always be with him in battle to support him. He needs to figure this out for himself." Annabeth responded, returning her gaze to her boyfriend.

"Lift him up."

Long story short, he managed to do it. Jason winced every time he wobbled and flinched whenever he grit his teeth.

"It was hard seeing my bro struggle." Jason said once Percy unattached himself from the machine.

"Aw, thanks bro." Percy clapped him on the back. "You're up." Once Jason had hooked himself up, Percy turned to his girlfriend. "How did I do?"

"Not bad." Annabeth smirked.

Jason rose into the air, looking as though he was still on the ground. He was practically standing on air.

"Show off!" Percy yelled.

"Oh, I'm hurt!" Jason threw his hand against his forehead dramatically.

"Dang, he's better than Mikasa." Leo remarked.

Jason started doing jumping jacks just to show off. "Do you think I'll pass?" He called.

"Not a chance Grace!" Percy replied, laughing.

Leo went next, and he had a manic gleam in his eyes the whole time. He shifted and wiggled and seemed to be absolutely fascinated with the belt. When they lowered him he didn't take the cords off for another five seconds. He just stared at them in awe.

"FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAD AN INSUFFICIENT PERFORMANCE," The commander glanced at Eren when he said this. "OR A BELOW AVERAGE ONE, THESE MACHINES WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PRACTICE. DISMISSED!"

"I'm probably going to try and get a bit better." Percy said. "I think I wobbled too much."

"I am too." Frank said. "I nearly tipped over."

"I'll help you guys if you want." Annabeth offered.

"Oh, me too!" Hazel piped.

"Nice. It can be like a double date." Frank grinned.

Percy snickered. "Just like a double date."

"Well, me and Pipes are going to find out more about the titans." Jason said. "What are you going to do Nico and Leo?"

"Hm? Oh, I dunno." Leo shrugged. Then his eyes lit up. "Maybe I could spend some more time with the ODM gear! It's so fascinating how it all works."

"I guess you're my partner then." Nico remarked. "Since I need to practice more."

"Sure. Put 'em here di Angelo." Leo raised his hand. Nico stared at him.

"No, thank you." Nico said drily. He stalked back towards the ODM machines.

"Ooohh! Shut down by di Angelo!" Percy laughed.

"Shut up Jackson." Leo muttered as he followed Nico back.

Mikasa, Armin, and Eren were already at one of the machines. Eren was hooked up, and Armin had his hands on the lever, ready to spin it and raise Eren into the air.

"Just remember the basics and you'll be fine." Percy overheard Mikasa tell Eren as he hooked himself up. "Don't try any fancy maneuvers…"

"You ready Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth called.

"Yeah." Percy replied. The cords began to lift him into the air. He wobbled a bit once his feet left the ground.

"Percy, you're stressing it too much. You need to take deep breaths and be in control of yourself." Annabeth lectured.

"Okay." Percy relaxed. He took even breaths, and he eventually stopped shaking. _Be in control of yourself. I'm in control._

"Good. You've got it." Annabeth complimented. "There you go."

He looked up and immediately wobbled.

"Keep your weight evenly spread." Annabeth said. "You had it, but as soon as you looked at me you lost control. You need to-" She was cut off by a sickening _crack!_

"EREN!" Armin exclaimed. Annabeth whipped around to see Eren, hanging upside down, his head on the ground.

Annabeth dashed over and helped Mikasa unbuckle him. He crumpled to the dirt, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead.

"Armin, me and Annabeth we'll get him patched up, don't worry. Why don't you help Annabeth's boyfriend? He's tipped." Mikasa said as she slung one of Eren's arms over her shoulder. Annabeth had Eren's other arm. She glanced behind her to see a pale Percy hanging upside down. Armin rushed over to him.

"Thank you." Mikasa told Annabeth.

"Don't mention it. Come on, doctor's office is this way." Annabeth began to lead them towards a small building to the right of the Mess Hall. Eren seemed to be half conscious, groaning and occasionally twitching.

"So, what's the relationship between you two?" Annabeth asked. Mikasa's expression became guarded.

"He helped me when I was very young. I had lost my family and his took me in. I'm forever indebted to him." She said curtly.

"He's lucky to have a girl like you in his life." Annabeth replied. "He seems quite ambitious, and I say that with the highest respect. But he has a temper, and it seems like the kind that could get him in big trouble."

"He watched a titan devour his mother." Mikasa said lowly. "The experience shaped him into who he is now. I'm sure you can understand how that affected him."

"Of course. I had no idea." Annabeth said awkwardly. "He's a good boy though. Passionate, brave, quick witted."  
"You have no idea." Mikasa said as they reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the doctor's cabin. "I'll take it from here. Thank you for your assistance."

"Anytime. Seriously, girl to girl, I'm here if you need to talk to anyone about anything."

"I'll keep that in mind." The ghost of a smile tugged at Mikasa's lips, and she entered the doctor's cabin with Eren.

Annabeth turned and ran back to the machines to see Percy leaning on Armin.

"Annabeth! Is Eren okay?" Armin exclaimed.

"He's going to be fine." Annabeth replied. "He's with the doctor. What's up with him?" She turned her gaze towards Percy.

"I think he's just dizzy. Suddenly flipping like that kind of rattled him." Armin answered.

"Anna...beth?" Percy squinted at her.

"Idiot." She chuckled. A loud, clear sound, the dinner bell, rang out.

"Foood…" Percy groaned.

"Come on Seaweed Brain. Let's put some nutrients in your body." Annabeth slung Percy's arm over her shoulder. "Thanks for getting him down Armin. He's such a doofus sometimes."  
"No problem." Armin smiled lightly. "Hey, could I come with you guys to the Mess Hall?"

"Of course!" Annabeth replied. Armin jogged up to her ash she began walking away.

"So, how did you two meet?" Armin asked, nodding to Percy.

"Oh gosh. That was like, six years ago." She smiled lightly. "He had just gotten into a fight and was unconscious outside my home, so my family took him in. He's powerful, but he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed."

Armin grinned. "Cool. Sounds like you're in charge in this relationship."  
"Heck yeah." Annabeth chuckled. "So how did you meet up with Mikasa and Eren?"  
"Well, we both lived in Shiganshina, and I was getting beaten for fantasizing about leaving the walls. They kind of came to my rescue. I showed them everything I knew about the outside world. They were both fascinated by it, just as much as me. Eren made it his goal to see it. We all want to see the ocean so badly." Armin's voice grew wistful.

Of course, Annabeth thought. These guys have never been outside the walls. They've never seen the ocean. Best not tell him I've seen it, he'll get suspicious, but mark my words, this boy will see the ocean.

"That sounds incredible." Annabeth said. She halted in front of the door and looked to Armin.

"It is. Oh, sorry." Armin opened the door for her and let her drag Percy in.  
"No apologies needed. Thanks." Annabeth responded. She dropped Percy into a chair and sat down next to him.

"I'm going to wait for Eren and Mikasa to show up." Armin said.

"Alright. See 'ya." Annabeth smiled. Armin waved and stepped back outside.

Annabeth turned, grabbed a nearby cup of water, and threw it's contents onto Percy's face.

"Huh? What?" He shot out of his dizzied trance, whipping around frantically. He noticed the fact that he was soaking, and that his girlfriend was holding an empty cup, looking very smug, in front of him.

"Ha ha. Very funny Wise Girl." Percy stuck his tongue out. He gathered up all the water she had thrust on him and dropped it on her.

"You're such a sore loser." Annabeth remarked.

The door opened, and Eren, Mikasa, and Armin entered. Eren's head was bandaged. Mikasa and Armin set him down in a chair, Mikasa next to him and Armin across. People began filing into the hall, and people pointed and stared at the injured boy. The eight demigods sat at the table next to them, and could clearly see Eren's eyes widen in disbelief at his situation.

"Hey Daz." Jason overheard a man say to his friend. He angled his head to hear their conversation. "He was talking big about butchering all the titans, but he got real quiet after ODM training didn't he?"

Jason noticed Eren pale. He had heard.

Jason abruptly stood up. "Hey, at least he's got more guts than all of you combined. So stay out of it jerk."

"Jason, sit down." Piper growled. He did so promptly. "And calm down too."

"I guess it's the fields for him tomorrow." The man, Daz said. "Can't keep wasting food on the useless."

"Shut up you son of a harpy!" Jason exclaimed. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew across the hall, nearly knocking the two men over. "If we should stop wasting food on the useless you'd be bone thin right now!"

"JASON!" Piper barked. "Sit. Down!"

Jason did so, grumbling darkly.

"Hey, calm down." Percy said. "You're not getting us anywhere."  
"Sorry guys." Jason sighed. "I just hate it when people are such idiots."

"Eren." Mikasa grabbed Eren's shoulder, causing him to cry out. Annabeth glanced over. Steam was rising off Eren's head.

No. That's just the steam from the food. Annabeth thought. Why would his head be smoking?

"Worrying won't solve a thing." Armin said. "There's still some time to get some practice in come morning."

"How pathetic." Eren muttered. "How am I supposed to kill 'em if I can't even stand up straight?"

"It might be time to let that dream die." Mikasa said, earning a startled look from both boys.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, his eyes wide.

"I think you should give up this attempt to be a soldier." Mikasa said nonchalantly. "There's a lot more to fighting and combat than just throwing your life away in vain."

"What are you saying?" Eren was clearly outraged. "After everything we saw that day? After what happened to my mom? You're crazy if you think I'm just going to walk away."

The demigods exchanged confused glances. Annabeth quickly stole Riptide and put it in pen form, and scribble on a napkin Eren's mom was eaten by a titan. Everyone frowned once they read it.

"I get it, but it doesn't matter how determined you are." Mikasa continued.

"It- wait what do you mean?" Eren looked rabid, scared confused and angry at the same time.

"Because whether or not you're fit to be a soldier isn't up to you." Mikasa explained.

Eren flinched away like she had hit him, hurt and rage evident in his eyes.

The bell rang, and everyone began cleaning up.

"You misunderstand." Mikasa said.

"Let's go Armin." Eren said darkly, either oblivious to the fact Mikasa was still talking or he didn't care.

"Oh, okay." Armin replied.

"I'm not saying you should return to the fields by yourself." Mikasa continued, not knowing the boys had left her. "I wouldn't dream of it. Because wherever you go, I'm going to go with you." Mikasa turned to look at Eren but found herself face to face with Sasha.

The demigods quickly exited.

"Wow, that's grim." Frank said, throwing a worried glance over his shoulder. "Poor guy."

"There's nothing we can do about it." Nico said darkly. "I'm going to sleep. See you guys in the morning."

Jason watched the dark haired boy walk off. He'd been acting strange, very strange. Ever since he started dating Will, he had smiled more. He even tried to be social. But now, he was back to the way he was before. Cold. Secretive. Sad.

"Good night boys." Piper waved and started towards her cabin, Hazel by her side. They split up and went into their respective cabins.

"Gosh, today was so tense." Jason said, climbing atop the bunk he and Percy shared.

"Tell me about it." Percy replied. "This place is seriously depressing me."

The door opened, and Connie and Jean walked in. They were in a heated argument about something, as per the usual.

"Hey, Grace, what was with the whole standing up for Jaeger thing?" Jean asked.

"I don't like it when people are picked on, alright?" Jason snapped.

"Geez, calm down. I just asked you a question." Jean climbed up to his bunk and Connie settled into the one under him. Nico had a bunk to himself, mainly because everyone else was too scared to offer to bunk with him.

Percy got up and entered the bathroom just as there was a knock at the door. Jason leapt down from his bunk and opened the door to reveal a very desperate looking Eren.  
"Can I talk to you guys?" He asked. "About the ODM gear."  
"Sure. Come on in." Jason held the door open for him.

"Connie! How do you keep such good posture?" Eren seized the bald boy by his shoulders, revealing Armin waiting in the doorway.

"Hands off me man!" Connie said, shoving Eren off.

"Please…?" Eren begged.

"What's the trick to posture control?" Connie smirked. "Hard to say. I guess I got the gift. You've just gotta feel it, ya know?"

Eren turned to Jean.

"I'm trying to figure out your trick." Jean looked like he was on the verge of laughter. "You've screwed up every way imaginable, short of an accidental equipment related asphyxiation."

"Pleeasse guys." Eren took a hurried step forward, and Armin extended an arm to keep him from crashing into Jean and Connie."You gotta help me I'm begging you."

Jason looked to the conversation.

"That's funny. Wasn't it just yesterday you said that if you can't handle the pressure you gotta leave?" Connie said. Eren winced away, hurt evident on his face. Jason took a step towards them. "No wait. Was it if you're a complete idiot you gotta leave? Something like that."

Eren looked like he may start crying.

"Back off guys." Jason barked. "One more word and I'll throw you over Wall Rose."

Jean snickered.

"Or I can just gut them with a sword." Nico drew his Stygian iron blade out from under his bunk. The weapon radiated fear and death. "It'd be much more fun if you ask me." He pointed it at the boys.

"You wouldn't." Connie growled.

Nico's eyes were so empty, cold, and soulless that Jason was surprised Connie had the courage to speak. Nico pressed the end against Connie's cheek. "Try me baldie."

Percy took this moment to leave the bathroom. He looked at the situation then went back inside.

"You were really good at it." Armin said, turning to Jason. "Do you have any advice?"

 _Become the son of the god of the sky,_ Jason thought. "No, not really. Reiner and Bertolt are pretty good though. Maybe they'll give you some pointers."

"Thanks. Come on Eren." Armin tugged his friend out of the cabin.

Nico lowered his sword and slid it back into it's sheath under his bed.

"HOW THE HECK DID YOU SMUGGLE A SWORD IN HERE?" Connie exclaimed.

"I have my ways." Nico grinned lightly.

"Is it safe to come out now?" Percy asked.

"Yeah." Jason replied. "We're good."

:~:

The crowd waited with baited breath as Eren stood there, attached to the ODM machine. He and the commander stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"Eren Jaeger, are you ready?" He finally asked.

"Yes sir!" Eren said. He silently surveyed the crowd, locking eyes with Armin, Mikasa, and Jason. They could all see the fire blazing in his eyes. He would do this.

"Proceed!" The commander barked.

The crank began to turn, and Eren was slowly lifted into the air. He was still upright when his feet left the ground, and he remained that way, his eyes glued to the commander.

He's doing it. Jason realized, going slack jawed like most of the crowd. He's doing it. He's going to stay.

And for a second that was reality, everyone cheered, but then he wobbled. He wobbled again, until finally he fell back. He used his arm to stop his head from hitting the ground first, but Jason looked into his eyes. He was still trying to get upright again.

The commander approached him.

"No! Not yet! Once more, I can do it!" Eren exclaimed frantically.

"...Lower him."

The crank was released, and Eren collapsed to his knees, panting. He sat back shakily, his eyes watering. "I- I'm finished."

Jason was about to bust through the crowd to demand to let him have another turn, but then the commander spoke.  
"Fardlan, please trade belts with Mr. Jaeger."

"Huh? Uh, yes sir!" The man behind the machine said. He unstrapped his belt and extended it towards Eren, who followed suite. He shakily hooked himself back up to the machine and stood, ready to be lifted. The crank turned, and Eren's feet left the ground. He looked tense at first, then he relaxed. His eyes widened in surprise.  
He's having no trouble with this guy's belt. Leo thought. Eren's belt must have been faulty.

"Your equipment was defective." The commander said, confirming Leo's suspicion. "If given a piece of functional gear you might not be worthless after all." the commander fingered the belt. "The quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the supply depot and crack a couple skulls."

"He still did." A man in the crowd said. "Even when wearing that busted gear."

"So you mean I- I didn't wash out?" Eren said in disbelief.

"You made the cut." The commander said drily. "Now keep training cadet!"

It took Eren a moment to register those words, but when he did, he pumped his fist in the air in victory.

"Good job Eren!" Jason exclaimed. "Way to go! I knew you could do it!"

"It seems like things worked out for him." The man next to Jason remarked.

"Look, his eyes are saying check me out." Armin smiled.

"They're not." Mikasa said. The boys looked at her simultaneously. "His eyes are saying he doesn't have to leave me. Not anymore."


	9. Chapter 9

Two years after joining the cadets.

"WOOOOO!" Leo shrieked as he rocketed through the air. His wires shot out and connected to the tree. Gas shot out from behind him, propelling him forward through the air. The wind blasted against his face and through his curly hair.

He turned his attention from the adrenaline rush to the ground and quietly scolded himself for getting distracted from the task at hand. He had to cut up as many fake titans as possible. Commander had called this a "simulation mission". The people with ODM gear were supposed to cut down any titans they came across and protect the squad travelling on foot.

As soon as Leo's eyes settled on one of the fake titans, Annie Leonheart and Bertolt came speeding out of the expanse of trees. In two quick slices from their blades, two deep nicks appeared in the rubbery "nape" on the titan. Jean followed close behind, but his cut came too shallow.

Dang it, Leo thought. How'd they get there first?

"VALDEZ!" The commander barked. "STOP LOLLYGAGGING AND DO YOUR JOB!"  
Leo nodded and shot forward, bulleting through the air. Jean had taken off to the right (Secretly pursued by Connie), Annie and Bertolt kept forward, so Leo aimed his blades towards the left and fired his wires.

He rocketed forward, shifting his weight to dodge the trees. Tree, tree, tree, titan shaped tree with flesh colored rubber on it's neck, tree-

Leo whipped around and shot his wires across the small clearing and turned his gas on. He seemed to approach the fake titan in slow motion, until he was there.

Let's do this.

Leo spun his blades around and felt them sink into the rubber and tear a deep slice with satisfaction. The tension he felt in the blades suddenly vanished, and he realized he had done it. He glanced behind him to see a deep nick in the flesh colored rubber. And behind that, a very frustrated looking Nico di Angelo.

"Sorry, was that one yours?" Leo laughed cockily.

"As a matter of fact," Nico suddenly shot forward, promptly passing Leo. "It was."

Nico had spotted a titan Leo was still oblivious to, and was rapidly approaching it. The son of Hades drew his sword and made two lightning speed slashes in the "nape", removing a large chunk of rubber.

"But I hope that one wasn't yours!" Nico cried, and with that, shot into the trees once more.

Leo frowned and bulleted forward. He saw another titan in a clearing, but Mikasa and Eren had already sliced it up. There was another one in that area that the two had missed though, and as soon as Leo aimed his blades to it, Jason came rocketing out of the trees. No wires. No gas. Just him. He sliced with his sword and removed a large piece of rubber from the nape, then he flew away.

 _Come on Jason_ , Leo thought sourly. _At least pretend to use the gear._

"VALDEZ! GRACE! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, RETURN TO BASE!" Annabeth yelled.

"Says who?" Leo turned to face her.

"Says the commander. Come on!" She replied. She shot back towards the ground and began running with the rest of the squad.

Leo groaned and aimed his blade towards the base of a tree, and fired the cords to pull him down. Jason just dropped from the sky.

"Jason, I know you don't need it, but at least pretend to use the gear!" Leo hissed.

"Alright alright. I was just caught up slicing all those titans, that's all." Jason whispered back.

"How many did you get anyway?" Leo's voice returned to normal volume.

"Ten out of thirty." He replied. "How about you?"

"Two."

~:~

Jason charge forward, wooden knife pointed towards Percy. "Look out Jackson, here I come!"  
Percy dodged the stab from the knife and punched Jason's gut. The blonde son of Jupiter staggered, giving Percy an opening. He grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, and cockily rested a foot on his stomach.

"How was that Grace?" He grinned.

"Acceptable." Jason grunted. "Now come on. It's your turn to charge me."

Percy rolled his eyes and helped him to his feet. Jason handed the son of Poseidon the knife and stood aside, tense and ready to defend himself.

Percy glanced at Annabeth, who was facing off with Piper. She had managed to win as the rogue, since she was so skilled with a knife. She had jumped in and away, dodging Piper everytime, developing a pattern, until she slid in and pressed the point against Piper's stomach.

Percy charged.

Jason held a fist at the ready, and just as Percy was about to stop, the wind forced him into Jason's fist.

"Cheater." Percy grunted. He glanced at the nearby lake.

"Are you blaming me for the air?" Jason asked innocently.

"Yes."

"Come on Jackson, I'll play fair this time." Jason pulled Percy to his feet. "Woah, Reiner's facing Annie."

Percy turned to see the large man step in front of the smaller girl. Annie had been wandering the area since they'd started, not bothering to participate in any fights.

"Commander's not beaten you down enough?" Percy could practically smell the arrogance in Reiner's voice. "Keep it and you'll be as flat as the dirt you're walking on. I suggest you think back to why you enlisted in the first place."

Eren approached the two. _Oh yeah, he's Reiner's partner._ Percy thought. _How's this going to end up?_

"Uh, what are you doing?" Eren asked.

Annie's face showed rage beyond anything Percy had seen before. Eren could see it to, and the hesitance was visible on his face. Reiner stepped behind the brown haired boy, and grabbed his shoulders.

"Okay, now go get her!" Reiner shoved Eren towards the girl. Now that Percy looked at her, she seemed a lot like Annabeth. Same fierce gray eyes and blonde hair, though Annabeth's nose didn't stick out as much.

"Huh? What the heck? Wait!" Eren protested.

Annie scowled and got into a flawless fighting stance, her fists in front of her fist and her body tensed.

"Woah." Jason breathed. "That's one of the best fighting stances I've seen. She's reminding me of Reyna."

"Right. Eren sighed. "Well I hope you don't expect me to hold back." And with that, he charged. "HEADS UP!" He cried.

Annie hit the sensitive end of Eren's foot hard enough to send the power through his boot, upsetting Eren's balance and sending him to the ground.

"She reminds me of Annabeth." Percy said.

"Son of a…" Eren grunted. "That was a dirty move…" He tried to stand, but promptly cried out and returned to his knees.

"Are we done here?" Annie asked, looking to Reiner.

"Not just yet." Reiner said hurriedly. "You know the drill, take up the dagger."

Annie sighed and returned her piercing gaze to Eren.

"NO! Wait! This isn't how-" Eren began to protest, but Annie was suddenly on him. She flipped him, drop kicked him, grabbed the knife, all in a split second, and walked away, leaving Eren in a very awkward position. His legs were slung over his head and chest, making a circular shape with his body.

"Hey Eren, you okay?" Jason called.

Eren grunted panifully in response.

Annie tossed the knife to Reiner. "There." She pushed her hair out of her face. "So you ready to take me on yourself yet or what?"

Reiner was clearly shocked. "Uh, not exactly."

"Don't you dare." Eren hissed, still curved like a donut.. "She's got a lesson coming, right? You go get her."  
Percy snickered. "I may go for her after this."

"Dude, if Annabeth could judo flip you, Annie would beat you into a pulp." Jason remarked.

"Yeah." Reiner said. "A soldier can't really afford to back down either."

Annie didn't even get into position.

Reiner glared. "Get ready, here I com-"

Flip. Kick. Punch. Kick. Reiner donut.

Eren stared at him, now properly sitting down. Annie stalked away.

"That's some technique you've got." Eren said. "Who taught you how to fight like that?"

"My father did." Annie replied icily.

"Did he like, pioneer it or-"  
"Does it really matter?" The blonde cut Eren off. "It's pointless, just like all this."

"Wait, you mean the training in general?" Eren asked.

Annie surveyed the area. "Hand to hand combat doesn't really count against our final grade. The smart ones blow it off. It's crap anyway. Only the top ten cadets get to serve in the interior. The rest of us, forget it. Point is, only the idiots like you take this part of boot camp seriously. Idiots, and whatever they are." Annie's gaze settled on Sasha and Connie, who were doing strange "martial arts" maneuvers. The commander noticed this and walked up.

"Oh, hello sir!" Connie said.

Once again, the commander grabbed Connie by his head and held him thrashing above the ground.

Annie suddenly slammed the tip of the knife against Eren's sternum.

"First rule of this life kid, the better you are at dropping the bad guys the more distance is put between you. That's what this whole stupid farce is about."  
"Sure." Eren grunted. He moved to grab Annie's wrist, but she abruptly grabbed his and judo flipped him while he shouted "Whatever you say!"

Annie dropped onto him, knife pointed at his neck. Eren grabbed her hands and struggled to keep the wood off him.

"Face it." Annie said lowly. "You don't fight the nature of things and win."

Eren was clearly shocked. Annie sighed and stood, knife still in her hand. "Look around you Eren. All these people expect us to do is play the game. Don't be a pawn." She walked away, leaving a confounded Eren on the ground. He shakily got to his feet and watched Annie walk away.

"Yeah, well I still stand by what I said earlier." Reiner said, watching her go.

"Oi! Reiner!" Annabeth exclaimed. Percy turned his attention to his girlfriend. "How about you and me?"

Reiner was clearly shocked. Percy was too. Annabeth was an excellent fighter, but could she take down this bulk of a man?  
"Alright," Reiner said slowly. "Bring it Blondie."

Annabeth twirled her knife and charge forward. Reiner punched, but she dropped down at the last second and planted her foot in Reiner's stomach. The man staggered back, and Annabeth took his uneasiness to her advantage. She slammed a fist into his side, sending him tumbling down. She pressed the knife against his neck.

"Maybe you shouldn't talk about the responsibilities of a soldier until you can actually perform your duties as one." Annabeth hissed. She got off Reiner and returned to her fight with Piper.

"Annabeth!" Percy laughed. "She's awesome."

"Why don't you battle Eren?" Jason asked. Eren tilted his head to their conversation.

"No way. In a sword battle, sure, but I've never been that good at hand to hand combat. He'd whip my butt." Percy replied.

"You'll never know until you try." Jason prompted.

"...Fine. But only if he's okay with it." Percy sighed.

"I am!" Eren called.

"Eavesdropper!" Percy replied. He took the knife from Jason and approached the dark haired boy.

"You ready?" Eren asked.

"As I'll ever be." Percy grinned. "You?"  
"Whenever you want to charge, go for it."

"Thanks, how polite." Percy grinned. He shot forward.

Eren dodged his first stab fairly easily, but Percy sidestepped to avoid his kick. Eren swung a fist towards Percy's head, but he ducked and aimed a blow at Eren's stomach. Eren was expecting this and grabbed Percy in a headlock. He kicked Percy's chest, sending him backwards. Percy regained his footing quickly and charged back in. He tried to sweep Eren's feet out from under him, but the move was too predictable. Eren slammed his fist into Percy's face and quickly jumped back.

Percy staggered, rubbing his jaw. His moves were all expectable. He needed to fake Eren out if he wanted to win this.

"You okay?" Eren asked.

"Never been better." Percy replied, and he charged. He pretend to aim for Eren's face, and at the last millisecond he grabbed Eren's shoulder and shoved him to the ground.

Eren rolled for a second, before he stumbled back to his feet.

"You fight dirty." Eren remarked.  
"Then stop fighting clean." Percy replied.

Eren grinned. "Gladly." He sped at Percy, his eyes locked on his wrist.

He's going to fake me out. Percy thought. He's making it to obvious he wants to grab my wrist. I have to defend my stomach and legs.

Percy raised his leg and lowered his arm in front of his stomach. Eren suddenly grabbed his wrist, and Percy found himself being judo flipped.

Tricky little devil. Percy thought. His back collided with the ground, and Eren's weight was on him. The knife was yanked from Percy's hand and pointed at his neck.

"Not bad Jaeger." Percy grunted. "I expected no less of you."

"You weren't so terrible yourself Jackson." Eren grinned. He got off Percy and helped the older boy to his feet.

"Thanks." Percy chuckled. "I try."

~:~

"...that's how you conserve fuel, just let your momentum do the work for you." Jean finished.

"Still, that's pretty advanced."

"Duh. It's called having a sixth sense for the finer points of your gear." Jean turned his gaze to Mikasa, who clearly couldn't care less.

"He's not wrong." Leo muttered. "Using your momentum does save fuel."

"Ha." Jason said. "Listen to him. On and on about the interior and getting all starry eyed over Mikasa."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be safe." Hazel said. "And Mikasa's a lovely girl."  
"Scary as Hades," Percy smirked. "But lovely."

"Did you guys see Percy's showdown with Jaeger? It was intense." Jason asked.

"I did. I watched him complete a judo flip worthy of my praise." Annabeth said haughtily.

"Oh stop it." Percy rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. Eren's an incredible fighter."

"Speaking of which," Nico growled. "Looks like he's about to get in a skirmish with Jean."

Percy looked at Eren. His green eyes were locked on Jean, blazing with frustration.

"Listen to you guys." Eren said. "Interior. Five years ago this was part of it."

"Oh no." Jason groaned.

" Here we go again." Leo sighed.

"You gotta point to make friend? I'm right here." Jean growled.

Eren set his cup down. "Poor Jean, so misguided, and besides, I don't think your head would fit in the interior anyway."

Jean's eye twitched, and there were snickers around the room.

"Eren…" Jason said lowly. "Back off."

"Very funny." Jean snapped.

"Seems a little backwards to me." Eren continued shamelessly. "Fine tuning your titan killing skills so the brass will station you somewhere you'll never see one."

"You'd rather I was good at getting killed?" Jean growled. "Thank you but I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on."  
Eren's face contorted in rage.

"Eren!" Piper snapped. "Calm. Down."

He ignored her completely. "You son of a witch!" He barked, standing up.

"Bring it on you little idiot!" Jean exited his chair too, approaching Eren hostiley.

"Eren please stop it!" Armin cried as Eren seized the front of Jean's shirt.

"Gentlemen please." Mikasa said, pushing the two apart and taking Eren's hand. Eren stared at her for a second, and she returned the gaze.

Eren relaxed, and suddenly Jean grabbed Eren's shirt and yelled "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUDGE ME!?"

Eren let out a startled cry, his eyes wide.

"HEY!" Hazel exclaimed. "STOP IT!"

"YOU RIP MY SHIRT YOU'RE DEAD!" Eren exclaimed.

"I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT YOUR SHIRT YOU TICK ME OFF!" Jean yelled back.

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Eren replied.

Almost all the eyes in the Mess Hall shifted towards the fight. Jean looked desperate, and Eren looked murderous.

Suddenly, Eren grabbed Jean's wrist and shoved his sternum roughly while kicking his feet out from under him.

That's Annie's move. Jason realized.

Jean hit the floor loudly, and Eren turned to face him. There were gasps around the room, and Jean sat up, rubbing his head.

"Dang it." He grunted. "What the heck was that move?"  
"A little something I picked up this afternoon while you were busy goofing off." Eren hissed. "You honestly believe the Military Police are your ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier. You're a joke."

Hazel was about to get to her feet and personally stab both boys with crystals when the door creaked open, revealing half of the commander's face.

"Would anyone care to explain the little ruckus I heard just now?" He growled. "I do hope everything is alright."  
Jean and Eren hurriedly took a seat. The commander stepped into the room, his icy gaze sweeping the sea of desperate faces.

Mikasa raised her hand. "Sasha passed some gas sir."

Sasha gasped in horror at Mikasa, and people around the room snickered and chuckled into their hands.

"Why am I not surprised." The commander put a hand over his mouth.

Sasha trembled in terror, her eyes wide in fear.

"For the love of God, learn some self control." He left the Mess Hall, and Percy burst out laughing, unable to contain himself for any longer.

Sasha tugged on Mikasa's wrist. "Why? Why me?" She whined.

Mikasa shoved a loaf of bread in her mouth, which seemed to satisfy the red haired girl.

Jean and Eren glared daggers at each other, and Hazel stood up.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Frank asked.

"I'm going to teach those two a lesson." She growled, prowling over to their table. Frank got up to stop her, but Nico grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down.

"When she's like this, no one's going to calm her down until she's satisfied." Nico said. "If you value your life, you'll stay seated."

Frank sat back down, his eyes glued on Hazel as she slammed her palm against the boy's table, making both of them jump.

"What the heck?" She hissed, her golden eyes glowing furiously. "Forget Sasha, you two need some self-control, otherwise you'll drag the rest of us down with you. So stop acting like spoiled children and come to terms with reality. Your fights are pointless, so stop it, before someone gets caught up in them. Because if you drag me or anyone else into your squabbles, I'll drag you down to the very pits of Hades. Got it?"

Eren, Jean, and Armin stared at her, wide eyed and clearly startled.

She slammed her fist on the table again. "I said, got it?"

The boys hurriedly nodded. "Yes mam." Armin said.

"Good. Glad we understand each other." Hazel hissed. She returned back to her table, leaving the boys struggling to comprehend what just happened.

"Nice job sis." Nico bumped Hazel's shoulder with his fist.

"I try." Hazel grinned.

"Looks like those two are going to leave quite an imprint on this place." Percy said, glancing at Eren and Jean.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Piper said. "We graduate in a week, right?"

"Yeah. It's supposed to be a bunch of intense tests, than they announce the top ten and explain the regiment options." Annabeth said.

"And we're all for Scout, right?" Leo asked.

"Yep. Scout Regiment." Jason raised his cup in a fake cheer. To his surprise, seven other cups dinged his.

"The Scout Regiment." The demigods said, and they took a swig of water. Percy caught Eren looking at them with a happy, kind of wistful expression. Jean looked like he might rip someone's head off.

"The Scout Regiment." Percy whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

"Do you have heart?"  
"Yes sir!" Everyone saluted.

"As of this moment you have three options open to you," The man barked. "Choose wisely! The Garrison Regiment, whose job is to reinforce the walls! The Scout Regiment, who ride out into titan country to take back what was once ours! And the MP Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from his royal majesty. Those cadets eligible for the MP have already been named..."

Jason glanced next to him at Jean, and then Annabeth to his right. Eren was above Annabeth.

They were the only two demigods who made it to the top ten. Not that it mattered, they were joining the scouts, but it still made Jason feel warm with pride knowing he was in the top ten.

"...the rest of you take a look. These are the top of your class!"

Annabeth kept her eyes straightforward and her expression serious, but Jason glanced at his fellow graduates. This was it. They'd finally be able to wipe out the titans, and the demigods would be able to go home after the years of military training they had been put through.

Jason's heart ached with longing to see the familiar faces at Camp Jupiter and Camp Half Blood, but he'd have to wait a little longer.

Just a little longer.

~:~

Everyone cheered and toasted happily, smiles plastered on faces and a carefree atmosphere filling the room.

"Congrats on the top ten Wise Girl." Percy said, pecking Annabeth's cheek.

"Thanks Seaweed Brain. I'm just surprised I ranked above Jason." She glanced at the son of Jupiter.

"I'm not." Jason grinned. "You're better at hand to hand combat, better with the ODM blades, better at following orders, the only area I top you is in using the actual ODM gear, and I don't even use it."

"Hey! Annabeth!" A girl called. Annabeth's roomates, Tanya and Nya, came running up. "Good job on getting in the top ten!" Nya continued.

"Are you gonna join the MPs?" Tanya asked.

"No. I'm joining the Scouts." Annabeth replied.

"Us too! See you there I guess!" Nya waved as Tanya dragged her off to another friend.

"Are you insane!?" Someone shouted. Everyone turned to the source of the voice and saw a man crowding in on Eren. The demigods slunk closer to the situation, ready to intrude if things got violent.

The man flinched away at all the attention, but he returned his focus to Eren. "How many people have died? We're talking a fifth of the population. If that doesn't paint a picture for you, I don't know what will."

Jason adjusted his glasses and identified the man speaking as he said "This is our life now. We can't beat them."

And just like that, the positive vibe died. The smiles became scowls, eyes sparkling with happiness became eyes shining with fear.  
"Yeah? So what." Eren growled. Everyone returned their gaze to him. "We buckle, take it all lying down? Things have changed. Maybe not a lot but enough. They aren't the mystery they were five years ago. There's still a long way to go, but we've made progress. Every battle we lost taught us a lesson, gave us the tiniest notion towards something like hope. You telling me it'd be better to cut our losses? Let all the death and destruction be meaningless?" Anger was beginning to slip into Eren's voice. "Just ball it up and accept it? Not on your life!" Eren made a fist. "Humanity's future lies outside the walls, and I'm gonna clear the way! I'm gonna take back what was ours! I'll drive them out, and as long as at least one of us can say that, we're not done."

A single tear fell from Jason's eye. Eren's words were truly moving. How did such a great boy end up in a place like this?

Eren grit his teeth, his eyes beginning to water. He turned and fled from the room, Mikasa and Armin running after him.

"Eren wait!" Armin cried.

Jason began to follow, but Nico grabbed his wrist.

"Don't." He said. "He needs to be with Armin and Mikasa. We don't know him well enough to go to him now."

"I've known him for two years!" Jason protested. "I can help him!"  
"No you can't! Armin and Mikasa know what he went through because they went through it with him! We can't help if we don't know how he feels!"

"Stop it!" Hazel said.

"I can't stand it when people are upset Nico, you know that!" Jason exclaimed.

"And I also know there are somethings you can't help with!" Nico was getting close to screaming. "You would make them feel awkward, and not to mention the tension would force Eren into silence, or hesitance at least!"

"Cut it out guys!" Annabeth hissed.

"He's not okay Nico!"

"Don't go Jason!" Nico suddenly drew his sword. "I won't let you!"

Another tear dropped from Jason's eye. "You would fight to keep me from going?"

"I would fight to help Eren cope with his feelings." Nico growled.

Jason sighed. He couldn't fight Nico. He could probably eventually overpower the boy, but he was scary, and not to mention he was important to Jason. The poor boy had been through a lot, he knew how to handle sadness and anger better than Jason did for sure.

"I'm sorry Nico. You're right." Jason said.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed his sword. "Good. You probably would've beaten me in a fight."

"Eh, I doubt it." Jason tried for a smile.

~:~

"Cleaning cannons! Congratulations, you're a soldier now! Your first honorable task is to clean the freaking cannons!" Leo yelled.

"Oh, shut it Valdez." Percy chuckled. "It's not like we're being asked to fight the giants again."

"Giants?" Connie glanced at Percy suspiciously.

"Uh, it's- I mean- What I- Crud."

"He meant titans." Hazel said. "Not giants."

"Oh. Okay." Connie returned to the cannon. "So, what Regiment are you guys joining?"

"Me, Hazel, and Leo are joining the Scout Regiment." Percy said. "You?"

"Yeah...I'm going for the scouts too." Connie sighed.

"What," Eren exclaimed. "The heck do you mean you're joining the scouts? What happened to the MP, that was your whole thing!"  
"Don't worry about it." Connie replied. "A guy's allowed to change his mind okay?"

"I think you're speech yesterday lit a fire under him." Mina said. Eren's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ain't nobody talking to you!" Connie protested. He turned, his cheeks dusted with a pink glow. "His temper tantrum had nothing to do with it!"

"That's what they all say." Leo muttered, exchanging an amused look with Percy.

"Hey, take it easy." Another cadet said. "It's not like you're the only one."

Hazel recognized him as the man who had called Eren out yesterday, the one who had triggered his speech. The man blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"What? Are you serious?" Eren said in disbelief.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" Sasha's familiar voice asked. Everyone turned to look at her.

"'Cause I totally just helped myself to the officer's pantry!" She revealed a foot of meat that had been concealed in her jacket.

Everyone's face contorted in horror, gasping aloud.

"Sasha, they could throw your butt in the clink for that!" Eren said.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" One cadet said.

"What isn't wrong with her?" Connie muttered.

Sasha's eyes got a far away look, and saliva dripped from her mouth as her cheeks turned bright red. "It'll be fine, I'm willing to share. Oh! Could you imagine the sandwiches?" She tensed up, relaxed, and trembled, giggling as she fantasized the meals.

"Put it back!" Eren shouted.  
"Yeah!" Mina agreed. "Do you know how rare meat's been since the titans took Wall Maria?"

"Um, little bit, yeah." Sasha stepped forward and knelt down in front of a crate. "Just look at it this way, pretty soon, we'll take back all the room we need for livestock."

One cadet trembled, swallowed, and shouted, "I would really like a slice please!"

"Hey if he gets one so do I!" Connie hollered. "Just, so you know."  
"Me too! I'm in on it too!" Mina said.

"I call the biggest piece!" Leo added.

"Uh, but…" Eren trailed off.

"Come on, don't just stand there! If they see us slacking off, we're done for!" The first cadet to ask for meat said as he resumed cannon cleaning.

"See you guys at lunch time!" Mina smiled, and she walked off.

"I can't believe she did that." Percy muttered. "She's going to get her butt whooped."

"I know right?" Hazel chuckled. "It's like she- hey, is the wind picking up?"

The wind was indeed blowing with a new ferocity.

"It's probably just Jason being annoying." Leo said. "Let's get back to- HOLY HEPHAESTUS!" A bolt of yellow lightning shot right behind Eren, and the sky was illuminated into an expanse of green and black. As soon as it faded, a huge, corpse like face was staring at Leo.

Hazel screamed and scrambled backwards. "T-T-T-T-TITAN!"

Eren whipped around, and at the second, the wall shook. Smoke billowed through the air in impossibly large amounts with incredible speed, knocking the cadets off as though they were insects.

"Aaaahhh! It's hot!" Eren screamed as he plummeted down.

Leo remembered his ODM gear half way down, and quickly fired a wire. It stuck in the wall firmly, and everyone around him did the same, except for one cadet, who had gotten knocked unconscious and was now plummeting down.

"Samuel!" Connie screamed.

Sasha suddenly released her wire and began rapidly running down the wall.

"Sasha!" Mina cried.

The red haired girl shot a wire at the falling cadet, and the sharp hook lodged itself in his calf. She fired her other wire at the wall, holding the both of them in place.

"Try not to move, understand!" She yelled.

Hazel looked up. A steaming, muscled red hand had closed on the top of the wall. She trembled in fear, knowing this was the being that had caused all the deaths Nico had sensed.

Percy's eyes were down, staring in terror at a hole in the wall. It was about fifty feet tall, tall enough for a titan to get through.

 _Oh my gods_ , he thought. _This is happening, the wall's been breached._

"They're gonna get in." Connie said, his voice rising to a shriek. "They're gonna get in! THEY'RE GONNA GET IN!"

Leo's nose was on fire. He was shaking, looking back and forth between the breach and the massive hand clamped on the wall. How was this possible?

"THIS IS IT PEOPLE!" Eren suddenly screamed. "DO OR DIE!"

Everyone seemed to snap awake from their trance as Eren used his ODM gear to shoot up the wall. "MOUNTED CANNON SQUAD 4, TAKE OUT THE COLOSSAL TITAN, THIS IS OUR CHANCE! DON'T LET IT SLIP AWAY!"

"LET'S GO!" Percy yelled. He shot up the wall as well.

The titan's face was surrounded in a cloud of billowing smoke, it's red muscles glistening in the sunlight.

"You…" Eren growled. "It's been a while."


	11. Chapter 11

Eren charged forward, his arms thrown out behind him as he ran. The colossal leaned back, and suddenly swept it's thick red arm across the top of the wall, demolishing the cannons and causing Eren and Percy to leap into the air to avoid being flattened.

 _This is insane_. Percy thought. _I can't believe this is happening._

He grit his teeth. _Well believe it Jackson, you've gotta save humanity again. No point denying the inevitable._

Eren leapt off the wall, gas from his ODM gear throwing him forward. He hovered in front of the colossal for a second, before it reached forward to grab Eren.

"EREN!" Percy screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

He leapt off the wall towards the colossal, his wire settling firmly in it's shoulder.

 _The nape of the neck._ He thought sourly. _That's where I have to_ cut.

He yanked Riptide from his pocket and uncapped it, the bronze sword springing to life as he shot through the air. Eren suddenly landed on the colossal's opposite forearm and began running towards it, his eyes blazing with fury. The colossal bent it's arm and tried to get Eren off, but the stubborn boy used his ODM gear to pivot away from any dangers and shoot towards the colossal's back, just as Percy's feet connected with the titan's shoulder.

They both charged in at the same time, weapons aimed at the monster's nape. Eren got there first, his blades swinging to slice the vital part of a titan straight out.

Suddenly, smoke and more ferocious winds blasted both boys away, the only thing keeping them from plummeting down being their ODM gear.

Eren grunted and re-aimed, firing another wire into the smoke. It must have connected with something, because he bulleted forward.

Percy's wire suddenly slackened, no longer connected to anything. He panicked for a second and aimed at the wall, sending himself tearing through the air at the wall. He glanced behind himself to see Eren tear through the smoke with his blades, where the colossal titan had been.

"EREN!" Percy screamed. The boy was so shocked at the titan being completely gone that he was falling. "EREN WAKE UP!"  
He snapped back to his senses and fired a wire at the wall, his feet quickly landing on it.

"Eren! What happened?" Percy called.

"I-I-I-I-I-" Eren stammered helplessly.

A man looked over the wall. "Eren, where'd he go? Did he get away or did you take him out?"

"He's gone!" Eren replied. "Exactly like five years ago! He's here one moment, gone the next, just like that!"

"Come on Eren, let's get back up there." Percy said.

Eren nodded, and zipped up the wall, where Percy joined him. Eren hung his head shamefully, his eyes glued to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I-"  
"Don't apologize." The man cut him off. "Look at us, we were too scared to move."

"Hey!" Connie barked. "Wallow on your own time. In case you haven't noticed there's a breach. We have to act now, if they start pouring in that's it!"  
"Look alive!" A man said as he settled onto the wall. He had the Garrison Regiment symbol on his jacket, and everyone on the wall quickly saluted. "Operation colossal titan response is in effect, I expect you to take part. Report to HQ. If you got close to the thing we need details."

"Sir!" Eren said.

"Sir we pray the advance team will be victorious!" Connie said. The man leapt off the wall.

"Hazel, Leo! You guys okay?" Percy asked, rushing towards his friends.

"Yeah, we're good." Leo replied. "Hazel had an idea once she saw the breach, we think it might work."

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"There's tons of precious stones under the ground over there." Hazel jerked her head towards the wall. "I might be able to summon a barrier from it, but it would only be good for about half an hour. These materials aren't notably strong."

"Do it." Percy urged. "Anything to hold off the titans is worth doing."  
Hazel nodded and stood at the edge of the wall, her hands raised to begin summoning the materials deep in the earth.

"Hey, Percy." Eren's voice said.

Percy whipped around. "Yeah? You okay?"

"I-"

A loud bell suddenly started ringing, cutting Eren off. People began to exit their homes and stare at the wall in horror before fleeing towards Wall Rose.

"I'm fine." Eren continued. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there."

"You're the one who did everything." Percy pointed out.

"It's just nice knowing that someone would come with me on a wild ambition like I just had."

"Of course! We're friends Eren." Percy smiled.

The ground trembled, alerting Percy that Hazel had manage to summon the barrier.

"Come on, let's head to HQ." Percy sighed.

~:~

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire cadets! Time to put your training to work! I have faith each of you will be a credit to your regiment!"  
"Percy!" Annabeth cried, throwing herself at her boyfriend. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am. I'm not about to be taken down that easily." Percy hugged her close to his chest. "Now let's get suited up. We need to go slay some titans. Hazel's barrier will only hold out for a couple more minutes, then the titans will come pouring in."

"Right." Annabeth pulled herself away and tugged Percy over to the gas stations where Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were having a fierce conversation.

"Do you need a refill?" Annabeth asked.

"Wouldn't hurt." Percy said. Annabeth hooked him up and began to refill his gas tank.

"We need to go the courtyard once we're done here, that's where everyone else already is." She explained. "That's where they'll be giving us our orders."

"Then there isn't a moment to lose."

~:~

"I WANT EVERYONE SPLIT INTO FOUR SQUADRONS AS PRACTICED! ALL SQUADRONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPLY READYING, MESSAGE RELAYING, AND ENEMY COMBAT UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE GARRISON REGIMENT!" The man shouted. "THE INTERSOUTH SQUADRON WILL BE TAKING THE VANGUARD. CADETS WILL BE TAKING THE MIDDLE GUARD LED BY THE SUPPORT SQUAD, REARGUARD WILL GO TO THE ELITES! I EXPECT YOU ALL TO MAN YOUR POSTS, KNOWING THE ADVANCE TEAM HAS BEEN WIPED OUT!"  
There was a collective gasp of horror around the courtyard. Wiped out? That's horrible! Leo shuddered.

"THAT'S RIGHT! THE OUTER GATE IS HISTORY, THE TITANS ARE IN! THIS MEANS, THE ARMORED TITAN IS LIKELY TO REAPPEAR! IF AND WHEN HE DOES, THE INNER GATE WILL ALSO BE HISTORY!"

Murmurs of fear swept through the crowd of cadets.  
"I wanna go home." Hazel said shakily. "I can't handle this."

Frank secretly grabbed her hand and rubbed her palm reassuringly, conveying the message _I'm here, don't be scared_.

"QUIET!" The man barked. "RIGHT. THOSE IN THE VANGUARD BE READY! THE AREAS ARE NOT YET EMPTIED. YOUR MISSION IS A VERY SIMPLE ONE! DEFEND THE WALL UNTIL THE EVACUATION IS DONE! NOW, BE AWARE, ALL OF YOU, THAT DESERTION IS PUNISHABLE BY EXECUTION! IF IT COMES TO IT, LAY DOWN YOUR LIVES!"

"SIR!" The cadets saluted.

There was a panic as everyone scrambled around to find their way. Frank pulled Hazel close, saving her from being trampled at least twice.

"I can't believe the Advance Team's been wiped out." Hazel whispered.

"Well let's make sure they didn't die for us to start whining." Nico hissed. "We need to head out there before any more lives can be lost."

"Right." Hazel nodded. She caught sight of a man, on his knees, throwing up , and felt her stomach twist in fear. She buried her head in Frank's chest.

Annabeth saw Jean walking away, and Eren walking as well.

 _Oh no. They're gonna crash in three...two…_

"Move it!" Jean snapped, shoving Eren away roughly.

"What the heck man? What's wrong with you?" Eren grabbed Jean's wrist.

"What kind of question is that? We're all about to be titan chow, you expect me to sing you a happy little song?" Jean got closer to Eren, his scowling face in Eren's personal space. "You're loving this, aren't you you little psycho? Of course you are! Your whole life's aspiration is to be eaten! I was one day shy of shipping off to the MP!"

"Jean, get a hold of-"

"No! Not all of us are suicidal!" Jean snapped.

"Dang it! Shut up for a second!" Eren slammed Jean against a support beam. By then all the demigods and a couple others were watching the situation unfold. "You were trained for this! What do you think the last three years were about? We _survived_. We stared death in the face and we lived. Not everyone can say that can they? Some people couldn't take it and either ran or were thrown out. Heck, some people actually died but not us! Am I right? We powered through for three years," people looked up from their state of disarray, closely listening to Eren's speech. Hazel looked up. "What's one more day? You can do this Jean, alright? The MP will still be waiting for you tomorrow." Eren released Jean and walked off, leaving the tall boy momentarily dumbfounded.

"Shoot." Jean muttered. He turned and stalked away. "On your feet Daz! And stop bawling."  
"O-okay…"

Mikasa stopped Eren, and that's when Annabeth returned her attention towards Hazel.

"How're you feeling?" She asked.

"Better. I'm ready to do this." Hazel put on a brave face.

"That's my girl." Frank kissed the top of her head, making her blush furiously.

"What's your squad?" Annabeth asked.

"The only person whose name I recognize is Piper." Frank replied.

"I'm with Percy." Hazel put in.

"I've got Nico." Annabeth said. "So Leo and Jason are going to be separate, I talked to them and they're not in the same squad.."

"Jason's with Armin and Eren." Frank offered.  
"Really? That's good." Annabeth said. "Come on, let's go find the others."  
"We're supposed to go to our stations." Nico said. "We'll regroup when this is done."

Annabeth nodded, and by some instinct, glanced at Mikasa. Eren was marching away from her, and she looked rather distressed to say the least.  
"Go ahead. I'll catch up." Annabeth said as she started jogging over to Mikasa.  
"Okay." Frank waved a bit, then he, Hazel, and Nico exited the courtyard.

"Annabeth." Mikasa greeted darkly.

"Is it about Eren? He's in a squad with Armin and Jason. He'll be fine Mikasa." Annabeth explained.

"...Are you sure?"  
"As I can be."

~:~

"Look at it this way Armin." Eren said. "It's a golden opportunity. If we prove our worth as soldiers right here, we'll rise up right through the ranks, before long we could even be leading our own regiment! We could bypass rookie status altogether." Eren grinned.

Armin looked a bit surprised at first, then he relaxed and broke out a smile. "Sounds good. I'm with you all the way."  
"Now now boys." Mina smirked. "You're not the only ones in your class. Save some of the glory for the rest of us."

"Good luck beating us to the punch a second time Eren." Another cadet said. "No headstarts for you this round."

"Is that a challenge?" Eren asked.

"Whoever kills the most titans gets bragging rights."

"Better not fudge your scores."

"Squad 34, move out! The vanguard needs support!" The garrison regiment soldier yelled.

"Right!" Eren regained his serious attitude. "Let's get 'em!"  
"YEAH!"

They charged, racing over rooftops and firing wires. Jason didn't even use his gas, he simply had the wind propel him forward. Within seconds he had nearly surpassed Eren.

Man, I am good with ODM gear. He thought.

Then he saw the titans.

Many of them, scattered around, lumbering slowly through the town as smoke rose from who knows what.

"There's so many of them!" Mina exclaimed.

"The vanguard's been completely overwhelmed!"

"I don't believe this, those guys always talked so big!"

Jason glanced at Eren. His green eyes swept the scene, and widened upon seeing something.

"We've got an abnormal! Pull up!" He screamed. A large titan with shaggy blonde hair leapt off a roof, rocketing towards the cadets at breakneck speed. Jason used the wind to veer upwards as the titan crashed into a large tower.  
The cadets tumbled onto a roof, Eren barely hanging off it. Jason hoisted him up, but his wide green eyes never left the abnormal. Jason followed his gaze to see the titan peek out from behind the tower, a member of his squad hanging from it's mouth.

Jason trembled in horror. All anyone could do was watch.

The cadet's face was so scared, so pitiful, Jason couldn't stand it anymore. He leapt off the roof and went bulleting towards the titan, just as it swallowed the cadet.

"NOOO!" Jason screamed. He halted in midair, refusing to believe it.

The titan released the tower and walked off casually.

 _I was too slow._ Jason trembled. _I failed him. He's dead because I was too slow…_

"You...you...YOU MONSTER!" Eren screamed. He shot off the building, clearly aiming to chase the titan.

"EREN!" Armin exclaimed.

"Wait! Stay with the group!" Another man yelled. Armin took off after his friend, and Jason and the others followed suite.

Eren screamed his rage as he did all sorts of fancy maneuvers, ducking bridges and slicing trees as he chased it.

Jason felt adrenaline pump through his veins, pushing him forward so that he was nearly as fast as Eren. So he was right behind the boy when the titan jumped up and bit his leg off from the knee down.

"EREN!" Jason yelled. Eren hit a roof and went tumbling across it, no longer moving.

Jason touched down on the same roof and went running towards the fallen boy. He was soaked in blood. By the time Jason had reached him, screams rang out through the air.

 _My comrades are dying._ Jason realized. _Eren's just hurt. I have to help them_!

Jason took off towards the nearest titan, who was about to clamp it's jaws down on Mina.

"HEY UGLY! LET. HER. GO!" Jason shot at the titan's nape, drew his blades, and slashed.

The titan wobbled, then fell, Mina still locked in it's grasp.

 _It's going to fall on her_.

"MINA!" Jason screamed, but the titan fell, and Mina didn't even have time to scream.

"No...Mina…" She was such a nice, innocent girl. How could the world be so cruel as to take her away?

Another scream pierced the air, and this time, it was Armin's.


	12. Chapter 12

"Nico? What is it?" Annabeth asked, noticing the boy's wide eyes and chalk white face.

"D-d-death." He stammered. "So m-m-much d-d-death."

Annabeth's stomach dropped.

"Hey, isn't that Armin?" Connie said, pointing to a small figure sitting on one of the roofs.

"Yeah, it is! What's he doing?"

"Let's find out."  
They fired their wires at the roof holding Armin and went rocketing towards it.

 _Nico said he sensed a lot of death…_ Annabeth thought _. Eren and Jason are in Armin's squad… Armin's alone…  
_ "JASON!" Annabeth screamed, fearing the worst. "EREN!"

"Hey, Armin!" Connie said. The blonde boy didn't show any signs of acknowledgement. "Armin? Snap out of it."

Armin's eyes were distant and unfocused.

"Wake up!" Connie grabbed Armin's shoulder and shook him. "Armin! Hey! Can you hear me? Come on! Snap out of it! I need you to talk to me! Say something!"  
Armin must have reacted, because Connie then said "There you are. You with me now?"

Annabeth slid down the roof to get a view of Armin. He was sickly pale and covered in some form of moisture that didn't smell promising.

"What's going on?" Connie asked. "Where's your squad?"

"...Squad…?" Armin breathed, still looking distant.

"Alright, let's get you on your feet. You shouldn't be out here alone." Connie rested a hand on Armin's shoulder, but abruptly pulled it away. "And what do you have all over you that's so slimy? What happened?"

Armin continued his black stare to the sky for another second, before his face registered such horror that Annabeth knew she wouldn't even be able to began to come to terms with what he had gone through.

He suddenly screamed a pained, terrified scream. He grabbed his hair and began pulling, tears rapidly flowing from his eyes as he twitched.

"YOU'RE WORTHLESS!" He shrieked, clearly referring to himself. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE!?" He bent over, clutching his head and shaking.

"Hey you need to pull yourself together!" Connie said. "Where is everyone?"

Armin froze, his eyes slowly stretching wider and wider in fear.

"Let it go Connie." A girl said drily. "He's it. The rest of 'em are dead."

"NO!" Annabeth shrieked. "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! JASON!"

"Take a look around you, isn't it obvious? They're all gone." The girl continued.

"YOU FIEND!" Annabeth screamed. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Tears were starting to drip down her face. "NICO! NICO ARE THEY DEAD? ARE THEY ALL DEAD?" Annabeth grabbed the poor boy's shoulders.

"Stop it Annabeth!" Nico yelled, shoving her off him. "I can't tell alright! Not with you messing with me at least!"

"...sorry…" Annabeth back off, but kept her eyes glued to the boy.

The girl and Connie continued fighting, while Nico closed his eyes and sent his sense out.

Three names floated up to him on deaths in this area. Jason Grace and Eren Jaeger were not among them.

"I think they're alive." Nico said finally, looking up at Annabeth.

"HA! SEE, THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" Annabeth cheered. She took off, running along the roof, screaming Jason's name.

"Well, she's cracked." The girl said.

"No. She hasn't." Nico hissed, turning to fix his gaze on her. "Say one more bad word about my friend and you'll wish you'd been titan chow."

Connie frowned and turned back to Armin. "Alright come on. We gotta get out of here." He extended a hand. "Are you able to stand?"

Armin stared at his hand for a second before getting to his feet on his own.

"Sorry to be a nuisance." He said quietly. "Don't worry about me. I'll rendezvous with the Rear Guard."

"But- Armin!" Connie exclaimed as the blonde fired a wire and was blown away.

"I'll follow him." Nico said. "Make sure he doesn't get eaten. Tell Annabeth." Nico fired a wire in Armin's direction and went zipping after him.

The blonde was going nowhere, that was clear. He shot cords out aimlessly and went wherever they landed. Nico got a single glance of his eyes and saw pain. Deep azure pools of pain and desperation. He was realizing how cruel and merciless the world was, how those with the power to do whatever they liked often ended up corrupted and hateful. Anyone else was just a victim of their terror.

Armin shot a wire at a solid brick wall, and the hook simply bounced off it. He let out a small gasp and he fell to the ground.

Nico abruptly stopped and climbed onto the nearest roof, watching. He knew Armin would break down again if he knew he was being followed. He would only show himself if Armin's life was in danger.

But why? Why was he so compelled to help this boy? This boy he only talked to once or twice, this boy that has never helped Nico in anyway or could be expected to.

Why did he care so much?

Will.

Nico's heart throbbed painfully. He hadn't seen his boyfriend in three years. Was he getting so desperate to see Solace again that he was starting to see Will in this boy? They both had blue eyes and blonde hair, but that's where the similarities ended.

 _Maybe I see part of myself in him._ Nico thought _. We've both lost family._

He was so caught up in his thoughts he almost didn't notice the death right in front of him.

A man was laying on the ground, the bottom half of his body bitten off. A woman was giving him CPR frantically, while Armin watched.

 _Oh my gods… This is horrible. That man is dead, surely she knows that. She can't bring him back with CPR. And Armin, seeing this can't be good for his mental health...since it's no good for mine either._

"Stop...please stop doing that." He heard Armin mutter. "Stop…" Over and over again.

That's when he heard the footfalls.

A titan that looked about nine meters tall with frayed brown hair was steadily making it's way towards them.

"We have to get on a roof!" Armin screamed. "We're titan food down here, do you hear me?"

"I don't care! I refuse to leave him like this!" The woman screamed back.

"He's gone! You can't help him!" Armin responded.

"I don't care! I don't care!"

Nico tensed himself. Once the titan walked by him, he would get it's nape. Then he needed to take Armin and this lady somewhere safe. Maybe find the rest of the cadets and camp with them. Nico had less than a tank of gas left.  
The titan drew closer and closer.  
 _Five…_ Nico drew his sword from it's sheath. _Four...three...two…_

He fired a wire onto the other roof. _One._

He let out a loud battle cry, his sword raised. He made two quick slices through the titan's nape, removing a chunk of flesh. Nico landed on the opposite roof as the titan staggered, then collapsed onto the ground.

Armin met Nico's eyes.

"You shouldn't be relaxing down there." Nico said drily. He jumped off the roof and landed on his feet, sending a quick jolt of pain up to his thighs. "You're practically asking to be devoured."

"Oh thank God!" The woman exclaimed. "Please help him! He's not breathing and he won't respond to CPR, and I-"

"I'm sorry." Nico cut her off. "But he's dead."

"What? No. No. No no no no no no! You don't know that!"

"I do. And I also know he died for you. Don't make his death meaningless by getting yourself killed."

The woman fell onto the man's chest, furiously sobbing.

"We can move his body into one of these houses and come back for him once we have the power to ward off the titans." Nico suggested.

"I don't believe it." The woman whispered. Nico's heart broke a little. He'd have to prove it to her, one way or another.

"Then let him tell you." Nico growled. He sent his senses down, deep into the Underworld. Billions of people clawed at him, begging to be brought back up, but he sent off a clear message. _Back off unless you're the man this woman is crying over, or face the consequences._

One person was still hanging on to Nico's power.

This is him.

Nico yanked his power back. The ground shakily parted in front of him, and the man's spirit shot out.

The son of Hades collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. He hadn't counted on having to fight of so many desperate spirits, and not to mention sending his power to the Underworld was no easy task.

"Talk quick." He grunted. "I can only keep him here for a couple seconds."

"F-F-F-Franz?" The woman asked.

"Yeah." The man's spirit tried to take her hand, but his fingers passed through hers. "Listen, I"m sorry I had to leave you, but you need to keep living. I can't come back."

"B-b-but you're back right now."  
"Only because I'm recently deceased."  
"C-c-can't hold o-o-on much l-longer." Nico grunted, shaking from the effort.

"I love you. Don't forget that. Keep living." The man said.

"I-I-I-I love you too."

Nico released his hold, and Franz's spirit was dragged back through the crack in the ground, and then that was promptly sealed up.

"What was that?" Armin exclaimed.

"Unimportant." Nico hissed, stumbling to his feet.

"Unimportant!? You just brought someone back from the-"

"Not now Armin!" Nico yelled. He turned his attention towards the woman. "Come on. We need to find the rest of the cadets."

"O-o-okay."

~:~

"Come on guys, we can do it!" Sasha exclaimed. "Right? Let's go! If we all work together we can make this happen, I know we can! Alright? I'll take the lead!"

No one responded to her. The sea of disturbed, hopeless faces stared straight forward. Nico doubted anyone had actually heard her, or cared.

Sasha looked around for a reaction of any sort, then she spotted the blonde boy leaning against the wall, his hair shadowing his eyes from view.

She jogged over to him. "Armin! It's time to go!"  
The boy didn't respond. He just stared straight forward like everyone else.

Nico scowled. He had next to run out of gas on getting Armin and the woman here. Armin seemed to accept the fact that Nico wouldn't explain his little show with Franz's spirit after the fifth interrogation, and Nico already regretted it. The boy's mind was strained and his sanity was on edge. The last thing he needed was to see greek magic and ghosts.

The sound of human footfall reached his ears, and he glanced up. Mikasa was running towards them.

"Mikasa! Weren't you with the rear guard?" Someone said.

"Annie!" Mikasa said, ignoring the man. Annie turned to meet her eyes. "I know how bad things have gotten, it's selfish, putting personal matters in the forefront, but have you seen Eren's squad?"  
"Some squads made it back." Annie replied. "But I don't know about Eren's."

"We found Armin, he's over there." Reiner jabbed a thumb at Armin, still slouched against the wall.

Mikasa turned and set her eyes on him. "Armin!"

"Oh no…" Nico muttered. "This isn't going to end well. Mikasa and Eren were like siblings."

"Poor guys." Jason agreed.

"Though I'll tell you what, I didn't sense Eren's death." Nico whispered. "I don't know what that means."

"So he might be alive?"  
"There's a chance, but don't get your hopes up. We won't know for sure until we see him with our own eyes, or we don't."

Mikasa knelt in front of Armin. "Armin, are you okay?" She asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Armin clearly couldn't bring himself to respond. Mikasa sighed and got to her feet, glancing around. "Where's Eren?"  
Nico flinched. He couldn't see Armin's expression, but he could imagine the strain and fear on his face.

"Armin?"

The boy suddenly looked up, the shiny paths of tears evident on his cheeks.

"They were-" Armin choked on a sob, and he bent over, his hands resting on his knees. "The cadets of squad 34, Thomas Wagner, Mark Tears, Phillius Seraphski, Mina Carolina, Eren Jaeger," Armin's voice broke in pain. "These brave five upheld their duties. They died valiantly on the field of battle."

Fearful talk broke out through the groups. Jason felt tears began to fall down from his eyes, and through blurred vision, saw Percy experiencing the same. Even cheerful Leo and cynical Nico had a drop of moisture rushing down their face. If five great people could be yanked from their lives so quickly, what chance did they stand of overcoming the titans?

"I'm so sorry Mikasa." Armin choked out between sobs. "It should've been me that died, not Eren. I...I couldn't do a thing. I'm worthless."

Mikasa knelt down in front of the crying boy and rested a hand on his. "Armin."

He shakily looked up.

"Calm yourself. We haven't got time for you to get emotional right now."  
Armin let out a little yelp of surprise. Mikasa grabbed his hand and stood up. "On your feet."

"What's going on…?" Hazel breathed, watching Mikasa spin around and prowl across the roof.

"Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the titans at HQ, we can there refuel our gear, allowing us to get back over the wall. Is that assessment correct?"

"Well, uh, yeah I guess so, sure." Marco replied. "But there's just too many of them out there, even with you on point."  
"I can do it." Mikasa snapped, drawing her blades. "I'm strong. Real strong." She thrust her blade in the air. "None of you come close."  
 _Wanna bet._ Percy thought darkly.

"Do you hear me? I am a warrior. Know this. I have the power to slay all of the titans that block our path. Even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I am surrounded by a bunch of unskilled, cowardly, worms." Mikasa pointed her blade at the crowd. "You disappoint me. You can just sit here, and twiddle your thumbs, and watch how it's done."

"Wait, Mikasa, are you out of your mind? That's crazy!"  
"You can't be serious, trying to take them out by yourself!"

"There's no way you can hope to beat them!"  
"If I can't beat them then I die. But," she spun around, facing HQ. "If I win, I live. And the only way to win is to fight." She leapt off the roof and shot a wire, gas shooting out behind her as she headed to HQ.

There were a few seconds of stunned silence, before Jean of all people raised his blade. "HEY! DON'T JUST STAND THERE, WE WEREN'T TAUGHT TO LET OUR COMRADES FIGHT ALONE! UNLESS YOU ARE A COWARD, IN WHICH CASE STAY OUT OF MY WAY!" He ran off the roof, taking the same path Mikasa had. Connie followed suite.

Then everyone was charging, yelling battle cries and raising their blades.

"THIS IS INSANE!" Percy shouted as he shot another wire.

"THAT'S OUR THING DUDE!" Leo replied. "CONSERVE GAS, WE'RE RUNNING LOW!"

"Check Mikasa out." Piper said. "She's cutting through titans like they're pieces of cheese!"

"She's going too fast!" Annabeth exclaimed. "She's going to run out of gas!"

"There's nothing we can do about that!" Nico barked. "She's in denial about Eren's death, she won't listen to anyone!"  
"Jason, be ready to get her if anything happens!" Annabeth commanded. "She's one of the most powerful soldiers we've got!"

As if on cue, Mikasa tumbled from the sky, hitting a roof and rolling off.

"Like now would be great!" Annabeth snapped. Armin had already veered off to get her, pursued by Connie.

"But what about you guys?" Jason asked. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Too bad Grace!" Nico snarled. "We can handle ourselves, so stop being a stubborn Roman and go get her!"

Jason blinked, surprised at Nico's outburst. "Fine. But if any of you die, I'll kill you."

He spun around and shot his wires at the nearest building, and willed the wind to push him forward as fast as it could.

He shot through the air. How could Mikasa be so careless with her gas? Surely she knew she was running low.  
' _She's in denial about Eren's death!'_ He recalled Nico saying. Did that mess with her judgement too? She was usually so calm and composed…Did Eren's death rattle her enough that she lost all control of herself? But Nico had said there was a chance Eren survived.

If he survived, then where is he? Is he still breathing in the stomach of a titan? Did he bust out? Maybe he cut his way out with ODM gear and went back over the wall. Or maybe he's dead.

Jason grit his teeth. Eren reminded him of Thalia. Both of them were fierce, protective and passionate. He couldn't imagine Thalia being eaten by a titan so easily, so picturing Eren was difficult as well.

 _Focus Grace,_ he scolded himself. _Mikasa could be being gnawed at this moment, and you're pondering how Eren's doing._

"Please be alright." Jason heard Armin say to the wind. "I'm coming for you."  
A titan like roar sounded, and both boys looked to the side. A small figure was kneeling on the ground in an alley between two buildings. "There she is." Armin shut off his gas and went speeding towards Mikasa. He scooped her up and shot through the air before dropping onto a roof roughly.

Jason willed the wind to push him there, and he flew as quickly as he could to their side, landing at the same time as Connie.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." Armin replied.

"Then we better get out of here." Connie said.

"Titans!" Jason exclaimed, pointing at the huge humanoid with short black hair and a gaping mouth as it slipped out from between two buildings.

"Crap! Two fifteen meters!" Connie yelled as another titan revealed itself. This one looked different, with a very well muscled body and choppy dark brown hair that ended just past his pointed, elf like ears.

"No, that one's different." Mikasa said.

Armin looked at her, then glanced back at where he had scooped her up. The skeleton of a titan lay there, smoking and nearly done decaying. "How…?"

The muscled titan roared, keeping it's eyes trained on the other titan.

The other titan roared back, stretching it's mouth to nearly twice the size of it's face.

Jason watched in amazement as the muscled titan got into a fighting stance worthy of a Roman praetor. Everyone gasped.

The first titan roared again and charged forward.

The muscled titan swung it's fist at the other titan's head. It landed, and the other titan's head was knocked clean off. It was sent tumbling through the air, spinning until it eventually collided with a tower.

Armin had his ears covered by his hand, Connie had sunk low to the ground, while Mikasa and Jason simply stared, wide eyed at the abnormal titan. It's opponent's body fell to the ground, empty neck smoking furiously.

The abnormal raised it's hand to it's face. The punch had knocked it's fingers off, and it was also smoking as a result. Jason watched, half fascinated half horrified, as bones formed, then muscle climbed up those, and finally, skin crawled over it.

It's hand was good as new.

Now, Jason knew titans could regenerate, but the thought was still confounding to him. That something so permanent to man, like losing a limb, could be fixed by titans in seconds.

The headless titan made an attempt to get up, though it's chest barely left the ground before the abnormal pounded it's foot against it's nape.

"I-i-i-it just finished it off." Armin gasped. "It knew exactly where the weak spot was!"  
"Incredible." Jason breathed.

"Come on guys, time to split. The last thing we need is him coming our way!" Connie said.

"No," Armin said quietly. "It has no reaction to us. The other titan would have been on top of us by now."

"It seemed to understand the skill of hand to hand combat." Mikasa said lowly. "What is that thing?"  
"That thing is awesome." Jason said. "It just killed two titans for us and didn't give us a second glance!"  
"Calm down Grace. We'll just chalk it up as another abnormal for now." Connie said. "They're always an unpleasant surprise-"

"No, this one just saved our lives." Jason argued. "We'd be in that other titan's stomach right now if it weren't for that thing."

"Whatever. Let's just go already." Connie turned.

"Hey, hold on!" Armin said. "Mikasa's tanks are empty."

"WHAT?" Connie exclaimed. "What are we gonna do? We can't clear HQ without your help!"

"There's only one thing to do." Armin said, getting to his knees. He began unscrewing his tanks from his ODM gear. "I know there isn't very much left in them, but it's better than your empty ones." He pulled them out.

Jason's heart throbbed. His tank was nearly full.

"Armin no!" Jason barked.

"This is our only choice!" Armin replied. "It'd be a complete waste if I keep them."

Jason grabbed Armin's wrist. "No, it wouldn't. We're not leaving you behind Armin."

"You have to get back there! I'm not helpful!" Armin protested.

"You ARE helpful Armin!" Jason snapped. "Give me Mikasa's tank. You keep yours, and I'll give Mikasa mine."

"What? No! You're one of the strongest soldiers left standing!" Armin's voice broke. "You'd be more useful with the gas than me!"

"Don't argue with me Armin! I know what I'm doing!" Jason undid his gas tanks and set them aside. He undid Mikasa's as well and slid his own in.

"Jason that's crazy!" Armin exclaimed. "I'm useless! I'm better off in a titan's stomach, leave me behind! You're too valuable!"

"Who said anything," Jason slid Armin's tanks back into place. "About leaving me behind? I'm coming."

"B-b-b-b-but you h-have no gas." Armin whimpered.

"I don't need it."  
"You'll be titan food if you can't get airborne!"  
"I know. Again, I don't need it. So why don't you just trust me and we'll go about our day."

"Jason, you're not making any sense." Connie remarked.

"Guys, I know I'm asking a lot," Jason sighed. "But please just trust me. We can all get through this, no one has to get left behind. Now let's get out of here."  
Connie and Mikasa nodded. Connie grabbed Armin's wrist and pulled him along the roof, running furiously.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this._ Jason thought grimly _. Nico's shown his powers, and now I'm going to show mine. Armin's a smart boy, he'll figure out something's different about me and my friends. Then it's only a matter of time until we have to tell who we really are, and with all the stuff going on, I'm not sure he can handle that, or believe it._

Armin suddenly tore his wrist away from Connie. "NO! Hold on, I have an idea."

Everyone halted, turning to look at Armin. "What is it then?" Connie asked.

"Only you guys are capable of pulling this off, so it's really your choice." Armin said. "This may sound crazy, but I think he might be useful."  
"Woah, you mean the titan?" Connie said.

"He only attacks his own kind." Armin explained. "He seems to have no interest in us. What if, we can somehow steer him to HQ and let him loose on the other titans? Look, we know he's taken at least one out already. We can use him as a weapon."  
"I like it!" Jason grinned. "See, already proving yourself useful."

"You've got to be kidding." Connie said. "How the heck do you think we're supposed to steer that thing?"

Armin turned to look at the titan. "Something tells me he's fighting on instinct. I'm almost sure if you take down the pair he's tangling with now he'll go look for others. That'd lead him straight to HQ. We're not steering him as much as luring him. I think it'll work, I really do."

"Think? You're asking us to risk our necks on a stupid gut feeling?" Connie yelled.

"If I'm right about this we could put down the siege on head quarters in one fell swoop!"

"...Armin." Jason said. He broke into a grin. "That is the most ingenious thing I've heard. I'm game."

"It's worth a shot." Mikasa agreed.

Connie looked between the three, surprised. "Seriously?"

"Better to take a gamble on Armin's gut feeling then wait around to be slaughtered. If there's a decent shot why not take it."  
"So basically we're going to recruit a titan?" Connie exclaimed.

"Pretty much." Jason grinned.

Connie stared at him in surprise for a second, then he smiled. "We'll look like morons if we screw this up."

Armin smiled, and laughed a little. "Yeah, but, if we don't look how many lives we stand to save."

"When there's a will there's a way." Mikasa said, then she took off towards the titan battle, pursued by Armin, Jason, and after some talking to himself, Connie.

"Jason, are you sure you don't need gas?" Armin asked as they ran.

"Positive." Jason replied. "I'll be able to whoop these guy's butts with or without ODM gear."

"But how?"  
"You'll see. Just promise not to freak out."  
"Okay...I promise."  
"Awesome. Now let's do this!" Jason willed the wind to carry him to the three battling titans, and he rose into the air and shot forward, Mikasa soon firing a wire beside him. They reached the first titan at the same time, and they both sliced down it's nape.

"YOU CAN FLY?!" Armin screamed.

"YOU PROMISED!" Jason yelled back. "IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOT THE OTHER TITAN. LET'S GET GOING TO HQ!"

The abnormal finished bashing the first titan into dust, and turned it's attention exactly where Armin had planned.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hold on," Frank whispered. "You're gonna be fine."

Sure, he and Leo had their disagreements, but the son of Hephaestus didn't deserve to have half of his leg bitten off.

While everyone had been heading for HQ, a couple titans got their grimy hands on a few soldiers who had run out of gas. One of them being someone Leo enjoyed talking to, so he charged in there and sliced that titan up, only to be chomped on by another. The rest of the demigods charged into action and finished the titans of quickly, but Leo fell to the ground, bleeding out and only half-conscious. No one had any medical supplies, so Nico offered to take his jacket off so they could at least slow the blood flow, but it did next to nothing. Desperate to get somewhere that they could properly stabilize Leo, the demigods took off with a new ferocity, shooting through the air is though they were fired from a gun.

"We're almost there!" Marco shouted happily. "We're gonna make it!"  
 _Good,_ Frank thought. _Leo may die, he's lost so much blood._

He fired another wire and put out as little gas as he could to help him shoot forward. This would be much easier if he just transformed into a large eagle or hawk and simply carried Leo, but Annabeth advised them to only use their powers if absolutely necessary. Armin already saw Nico raise the dead, and Jason would probably end up flying soon enough, people would get suspicious to say the least. And then what?

Leo groaned and shifted in Frank's arms. His cheeks shone with the residue of tears, and blood dripped slowly from his stump of a leg.

 _This is horrible_. Frank thought grimly. _If he can get hurt like this so easily, is there really any hope for us now?_

"How's he doing?" Piper called, glancing over her shoulder.

"I-I-I don't know." Frank stuttered. "The bleeding has slowed down I guess."

Piper nodded, and Frank could clearly see the intense worry on her face. _She's known Leo the longest, of course she's worried sick._

Frank stumbled on the roof, his foot catching on a loose plank. He barely managed to keep Leo from falling out of his arms and tumbling to the ground below, but Frank however, did fall.

"Frank!" Hazel screamed. She landed on the roof next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He grunted. "I just tripped. Leo's good too."  
"Alright, if you say so." She turned to look at HQ. "It should only be a one or two more wires until we're there. Let's go."  
She fired a cord, and went zooming through the air.

Frank sighed and stumbled to his feet. This would be so much easier in bird form.

Jean had already busted through the glass windows of the huge stone building, Marco and Annabeth close behind him.  
Frank grit his teeth and fired the final wire. He went rocketing towards the window, and he made sure to cover Leo's head as he bust through the glass. It sliced his cheek and jacket, but other than that, he and Leo were unharmed. Somehow he managed to land on his feet, and he caught sight of the supply depot.

Their eyes were wide and terrified. One girl had blood splattered on her face and uniform.

"Hold on a sec." Jean said, staring at the people huddled under the desks. "You guys were the supply team?"

"...yeah…" A dark haired man said faintly. Jean seized the front of his shirt and yanked him out from under the desk roughly. Frank got one glance at the rage on his face before Jean punched the man in the face, sending him back to the ground.

"Jean! Stop!" Marco exclaimed. He locked his elbows under Jean's armpits and held him back while the boy thrashed in rage.

"You cowards!" He snarled. "You left us out there on our own! People are dead because you didn't have the guts to do your job!"

The blood splattered girl rushed to the fallen man and glanced up at Jean. "The titans were coming at us from every angle!" Her voice was weak and tearful, like she could start sobbing at any second. "They overran the supply room okay!" Tears slid down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!" Jean roared.

A zooming sound became known throughout the room. Percy turned away from the argument and scanned for the source of the sound.

"HIT THE DECK!" Someone screamed. Percy barely had time to lower his head before the smiling face of a titan smashed through the stone wall, sending soldiers flying.

"Son of a…" Jean breathed.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Piper cried. "They can smell us!"

Screams pierced the air as people shoved past each other, desperate to get away from the possible massacre. They shoved each other to the side as they forced themselves through a doorway leading elsewhere.

Jean stared straight forward, his eyes wide with pure terror.

Piper didn't even notice the conversation around her. She was riddled with panic and confusion. What could she do? She couldn't run away, that would be cowardly! But how could she help here?

"Frank! Percy!" Annabeth snapped. "Help Leo! He's too close to the titans!"

Piper whipped towards the gaping hole in the wall. Leo was conscious again, and he was right next to the two grinning faces of the titans. He was desperately trying to scramble away from them, but he was too weak to get far enough to make a difference.

"On it!" Percy nodded. He uncapped Riptide and the bronze sword grew into his hand. He charged forward and sliced at one of the titan's faces while Frank pulled Leo away by the back of his shirt.

Percy slashed one titan straight through the eye, but it did next to nothing. As soon as he backed away from the titans, the least expected thing happened.

A titan sized fist slammed into the first titan's head.

"What!?" Jean exclaimed, and the titans went sprawling back, far from the hole in the wall.

"What the Hades?" Percy yelled, holding his sword at the ready.

A large titan showed itself. It had pointed, elf like ears and dark, ragged, hair that ended at his neck. It's mouth was huge, and it's green eyes gleamed with ferocity as it suddenly shrieked, staring forward at the titans it had just punched.

There was a shattering sound, and Percy turned to see Mikasa, Connie, Armin, and Jason bust through the window. Jason wasn't wearing his ODM gear, making Percy's insides turn cold. He had flown.

"Mikasa! You're-" Jean gasped.

"Woah, what a close one." Connie grinned, knocking on his tanks with his knuckles. "I was running out of fumes. We made it here though. Crazy, but we did."  
"Jason!" Nico exclaimed. "Where's your gear?"  
"Things got bad." Jason answered, helping Mikasa to her feet. "I had no choice."

"You- uh- I-" Jean stared at Mikasa, wide eyed with shock. "Am I dreaming this or what?"  
"You're a certified genius!" Connie roughly patted Armin on the back, making the yellow haired boy flinch and whimper in pain.

"Ow!" He grunted.

"From now on, as far as I'm concerned your word is law!" Connie smiled. He turned towards Jean and the demigods. "Check it out! We found an abnormal that's got a bone to pick with it's own kind!" He pointed to the titan through the hole. "And the best part, he couldn't care less about us! That's right, you heard me! This big, beautiful titan is our ticket out of here!"

"You mean, like fighting fire with fire?" A man asked.

"Listen to yourself, a titan's not going to help us!" Jean growled. "You're out of your mind if you think this could work."  
"It is working." Mikasa said icily. "For whatever reason he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me, you'll see."

As if on cue, the abnormal landed another punch on yet another titan with a roar of fury.  
"It was insane," Jason turned to his friends. "He saved our hides more than once! And it knows hand to hand combat, and he's Reyna good at it!"

"How is that possible?" Annabeth breathed.

"Anyhow, are you guys all okay?" Jason asked while Connie commented on the skill of the abnormal.

"...Leo, um…" Annabeth bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. The curly haired boy was gritting his teeth while Frank unwrapped the blood soaked jacket they had tied to his stump of a leg.

"Oh my gods." Jason's heart dropped. If he hadn't run after Mikasa, would he have been able to prevent Leo's injury? Was this his fault?

"H-h-hey Jason." Leo tried for a grin, but he immediately flinched and fell back. "I g-g-guess those t-t-titans couldn't resist me, e-eh?"

"Hey, save your strength." Piper said. "You've lost a lot of blood, and you look horrible."  
"G-gee, thanks B-Beauty Q-Queen." Leo replied. But he was sickly pale, and Jason could see clearly how weak he was. "I h-h-have materials back at m-my r-r-room to build a p-p-prosthetic l-limb. I'll b-be fine."

"Good news!" Jean exclaimed. He and many other cadets had returned, large boxes in their arms. "Courtesy of the Military Police, and covered with a layer of dust." He frowned.

Everyone who wasn't already doing something set their boxes down and began to rip into them. Percy, Piper and Annabeth worked on Leo's wound, Annabeth telling Percy how to clean it out with some water he'd found and Piper charmspeaking Leo to do whatever it was he needed to do.

Hazel slammed her fist through one box, scaring many of the boys, and pulled out a rifle.

"I thought ODM gear was the only way we could beat them." She muttered, running her fingers over the smooth gun.

"Me too, but this is all we got." Frank replied, tearing a box open next to Hazel. "We might be able to do something. Maybe we could shoot their nape?"  
"I don't think a bullet we cover as much ground as needed to permanently put a titan down." Nico used his sword to pry the top of his crate open. "But it's an uplifting thought."

In no time everyone had a gun in their hands or was getting a gun out. Jean cocked his and glanced up at Armin, who had been coming up with a strategy the whole time.

"Are we absolutely sure buckshot is the way to go?" He asked. "Seems like we might as well throw spit wads." Silence stretched on for a couple seconds. "I mean, come on guys, are guns even effective?"  
Hazel frowned and turned her attention to Armin.

"I dunno, but they're bound to be better than nothing." He replied, a determined gleam in his blue eyes. "We're looking at seven titans in the supply room of the four meters tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to be enough to do the trick." He pointed to his rough sketch of the plan. "Step one, we lower a group into the area by a lift, to get the titans attention. Step two, When the titans come within range the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them. Then the hard part, a moment of truth as it were. Before the titans have time to recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vitals. That's it," Armin looked up. "That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line. We screw up we're dead. That's a heck of a risk for one attack, but it's our only chance. Seven people have to slay seven titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need the best of you, the seven soldiers the most physically gifted and in sync with their pairing blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry, that's how it is."

"Seems like a sound plan." Reiner said.

"When you get right down to it the risk is the same for everyone. Doesn't really matter who goes." Annie said.

"L-l-l-look, I'm willing to be talked out of this." Armin said nervously. "One half baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself." Marco said gently. "Come on, what we're looking at, is for our only option it's pretty well thought out. If we give it our all we might just pull this off!"

"It'll be fine." Mikasa said. "You just have to be confident. You're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for."  
Armi stared at her, clearly surprised.

"I'm serious." She continued. "That mind saved Eren and me more than once."

"Wha- When did I ever save you?" Armin replied, eyes widened. "That's not-"

There was a loud sound, and everyone looked to see that someone had gotten the gate to the lift open.

"Alright! The lift's ready to go. Guns are loaded to the stocks. Let's go kill some titans."  
Everyone got to their feet, starting towards the lift.

"You didn't realize it at the time. We can talk about it later." Mikasa said, and she stalked off.

"O-o-okay." Armin shook his head. "Mikasa, Reiner, Annie, Jean, Jason, Connie, and Bertolt will be the seven killing the titans! Stairs are that way!" He pointed to a hallway to the right. "Now, let's go!"  
Everyone began filing onto the lift, though before Percy got on, he stopped next to Jason.

"Fly only if necessary, got it?" He said quietly.

"Yeah, okay." Jason cracked a grin. "I'm part of the seven once again."  
"Good luck." Percy smirked, hefting his gun, and he walked onto the lift, Armin close behind him.

"Hey, Armin." Jason rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" Armin glanced at the taller boy.

"You're smart. Really, smart." Jason smiled. "This is pure genius. You're saving our butts, so thank you."

Armin was too shocked to reply.

"I'm going to stay with Leo!" Annabeth called.  
"Got it!" Jason replied. He followed Reiner and Connie towards the stairs leading to where they needed to go.

"Okay," Connie said shakily. "I'm gonna ask the obvious question. Can we do this without ODM gear?"  
"No problem." Reiner grinned. "These guys are only four meters tall. They're weak spots are not too far above eye level."  
"He's right, size won't be an issue." Jean said. "The spots still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."  
"Right on their nape." Jason smiled softly.

"Worse comes to worst you could always just shove one of these up their butts." Reiner mimicked the motion, making Jason flinch away. "That's their other weak spot."

"Are you serious?" Connie asked, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "That's news to me."  
"Gods Reiner, what are you, eight?" Jason chuckled.

"Yeah, come on." Jean agreed. "Knock it off Reiner. You want your final words to be a butt joke?"

Jason watched with baited breath as the lift was lowered into the room. The seven titans glanced around casually, having not noticed the cadets yet.

Everyone' guns were suddenly pointed outwards, to where, hopefully, the titans would eventually be. One or two of the humanoids glanced up, finally noticing the soldiers hanging from the ceiling.

One of the titans slowly walked towards the lift, it's hair covering it's face from view. It suddenly swung around to face the people in the lift.

People made scared yelps and disturbed grunts upon seeing the titan's mortifying face.

"Don't lose your cool! Fire only when they're all within range!" Marco exclaimed.

The titan turned it's body towards the lift and took one step forward.

All of the other titans had noticed the people and were approaching. Jason could practically smell everyone's increased heart rate and fear.

They're going to fire soon. He thought. He tensed up. I need to be ready.

The titan's faces were close to the lift, close enough that the titans could probably lick the humans. No one fired.

One step closer, to the point that the muzzles of the guns were nearly touching the titans' glassy eyes.

"FIRE!" Marco yelled, and gunshots quickly became the only sound in the room. Bright flashes of light surrounded the lift as bullets flew from the guns and into the titans' eyes.

Smoke began to rise off the titans as they backed away, some clawing at their eyes and others stumbling back blindly.

Mikasa was the first to react. She went running along the shafts of the ceiling and leapt off one, her blades held over her head, ready to slice titan flesh.

Jason ran to the edge of his shaft and jumped off. He willed the air to push him forward, and in one quick slice of his blades, his titan stumbled, and collapsed to the floor. Blood had sprayed onto his uniform, though it was already evaporating.

"Got it." Mikasa said. "How're you guys?

"Pumped up!" Jason replied, bouncing from foot to foot. Adrenaline was pulsing through his veins like a fire. Gods, he could totally kill some titans right now.

He scanned the room. All but one titan had fallen to the ground, and Connie was staring, wide eyed at the standing humanoid.

"Connie missed!" Bertolt exclaimed.

"I'm on it!" Jason replied. He jumped into the air and called on the air to propel him upwards as he redrew his blades. Even though Connie had already seen him fly, the bald boy turned a sickly shade of gray.

Jason dug his blades into the titan's tender flesh and dragged them through it. As soon as they slipped from the cut Jason dropped to the floor and dodged to right as the titan tumbled to the ground.

"Hey, t-t-th-thanks Jason." Connie smiled. "I o-o-owe you one."  
"Don't sweat it." Jason grinned. "Thanks for not flipping out when I started flying."

Connie just swallowed nervously and frantically nodded.

"You can fly?" Reiner asked, Bertolt close behind him.

"Kind of, yeah." Jason shrugged. "I was born with the talent."  
"They're all dead!" Jean announced. "Start loading up supplies!"

Smiles broke out amongst every cadet.  
"It worked!" Armin grinned.

Marco let out a sigh of relief, before promptly falling backwards.

 _Well, no point trying to hide my abilities now._ Jason thought. He leapt through the air and hovered in front of the lift, where Percy and Frank were waiting.

"Nice slicing Jason." Percy smirked. "When you were up there in the air you were very… _grace_ ful."

Frank, Nico, Hazel, Piper, and Jason all collectively groaned. Percy made finger guns and pointed them at Jason, making clicking sounds with his tongue.

"Ha ha. Very funny Jackson." Jason playfully rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, you're a terrible shot. It's like you can't even Per- _SEE_ your target!"

More groans. Nico actually walked away, muttering in disgust.


	14. Chapter 14

"Woo!" Piper thrust her fists in the air. "We did it!"

"Yeah we did!" Hazel grinned back. She fired a wire, following the crowd as they zipped through the sky, towards the wall.

Nico watched them fly away. He had noticed a group of people not rejoicing to get over the wall, and decided it was strange enough for him to stick around.

Mikasa stood alone on the top of a roof, apparently captivated by something. She wasn't moving an inch.

"Mikasa?" Armin said, staring at the girl. He fired a wire onto the top of the roof, and quickly went zooming up.

 _This should be interesting,_ Nico thought drily as he shot his own cord next to Armin's.

"What are you doing?" Armin asked. "We have to leave, now!"

"Look down there." Mikasa said curtly, her eyes stretched wide.

Nico followed her gaze and felt his own eyes widen at the sight. Armin gave a little gasp of surprise.

The abnormal titan that had been rampaging against the other titans was backed up against a building, unmoving as other titans clamped their jaws onto his skin and roughly ripped the flesh off his bones.

"Cannibalism?" Armin breathed.

"Looks like it." Nico remarked drily.

The abnormal shakily looked up, and his mouth stretched open as if to roar, but the only sound that escaped was a pained, mangled cross between a grunt and a whimper.

"Can he not regenerate like the others?" Armin asked, his eyes fixed on the horrific sight.

"...This may sound stupid but I was hoping he'd be the key for us." Mikasa said. "That he'd help mankind break the cycle. Turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope."

"She's right." Reiner's gruff voice said. Nico glanced over his shoulder to see the burly blonde man standing there with Bertolt, Annie and Jean. "He's too valuable to just let die. There's too much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear that our priority should be to ward the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jean exclaimed. "We've got a path out of this nightmare and you want us to _stay_?"

"Think about it." Annie shifted her gaze towards Jean. "Having an abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage right? Cannons got nothing on a titan that likes to rip apart it's own kind."

"Do- do you-"

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Jason settled onto the roof behind Jean, cutting him off. "Why are you just-"  
Nico snapped his fingers and pointed to the abnormal.

"Oh." Jason frowned. "That's not good."  
"Oh no!" Armin gasped. Nico glanced up. "It's the one that ate Thomas!"  
Jason whipped around to see the shaggy haired abnormal. The images of Thomas hanging from that creature's mouth, looking so scared, so desperate, flashed through Jason's mind.

The good abnormal, the one the cadets assumed was a goner, suddenly roared. He broke away from the building, smaller titans' jaws still locked on his body. He charged at the abnormal as well as he could with the extra weight and missing limbs. The smaller titans began to fall off, and with green eyes dancing with a sort of familiar rage, he lunged forward and snapped his jaw around the abnormal's neck. He had no arms, so his teeth were the things to sink into the nape of the abnormal.  
He lifted his head, the dying titan hoisted into the air by it's neck. His eyes darted around and settled on the titan that had been gnawing on him.

 _Oh Hades_. Nico thought. _This is going to be good._

The titan swung his head, smashing the tian corpse against the smallest titans in sight as another fifteen meter began to make it's way towards him. The abnormal quickly noticed and jerked his head around, hitting the approaching fifteen meter with the corpse of the abnormal. The fifteen meter crashed into the buildings behind it.

"Holy Hera." Jason breathed.

The titan dropped the abnormal and turned it's head to the sky, it's jaws stretching open as it released another war cry.

"What was that you were saying?" Jean said shakily.

The titan swayed, it's roar dying, and it fell to the ground, sending dust and smoke billowing up from the floor.

Armin let out a little gasp and Nico felt his heart sink. _There goes our titan ally._

"Because I think it's a used point now." Jean finished, turning away. "Alright, enough of this, let's leave while we can. We're lucky the ugly beast didn't get bored. We'd have been next on the menu."

"Wait." Nico gasped. _I can sense a life force down there. A familiar, life force._ "What is that?"

"Huh? What is-" Jason followed Nico's gaze to the nape of the fallen titan's neck. It was hard to see through the steam of the titan's corpse, but Jason could just about see it A dark smudge was in the center of the nape, and while the rest of the titan body evaporated, it didn't move an inch.

"Look, a titan's a titan." Jean grumbled.

"Jason." Nico grabbed the blonde's wrist, his voice low and knife sharp. "Something's alive down there. And I get the feeling it's not a titan."

Jason stared at him, confounded, then he retunred his gaze to the dark smudge. The smudge slowly moved backward, and Jason felt chills race through his body. Something was definitely alive down there.  
"Mikasa!" Armin shouted suddenly.

Nico whipped around. The dark haired girl had leapt off the roof and was rocketing towards the titan's corpse using her ODM gear.

"Check it out." Nico ordered. Jason nodded and jumped off the roof as well, not even bothering to fire a wire.

Mikasa was running towards the titan, her eyes wide and desperate. Jason realized the dark smudge was actually a lump. Then, with a little help from his glasses, he found one more realization.

It was not a lump. It was a boy.

Mikasa's speed increased. She leapt onto the steaming corpse and suddenly enveloped the boy in a tight hug, and Jason finally recognized his facial features.

It was Eren.

"Oh my gods." Jason halted, his brain too surprised at the discovery to command his body to move.

Mikasa held Eren there, simply holding him for a second. Then she moved her head down to his chest and listened for a second. The silence stretched on for moments, then the sound of Mikasa crying reached Jason's ears, snapping him out of his trance.

He ran over to the nearly evaporated corpse of the titan and leapt onto it. Eren appeared to be unconscious, but unharmed. Jason couldn't tell how his leg was faring, after the one titan bit it off, though the fact he had just emerged from the nape of a titan was the biggest question swimming through Jason's mind.

The rest of the group leapt off the building as well. Nico took one look at Eren and, if possible, paled. Then he said something Jason couldn't make heads or tails of.

"He did this." The son of Hades breathed. "He did this."

"Let's get him off the ground!" Reiner exclaimed. "Come on! We're sitting ducks down here! We can ponder this once we're safe."

Jason nodded and quickly grabbed both Mikasa and Eren. Neither of them showed any sign of discomfort, or even acknowledgement. Jason willed the air to send him flying up at the tower whilst he clutched Mikasa and the unconscious Eren in his arms. They zoomed upwards, the rest of the cadets close behind.

Jason's feet touched onto the stone tower, and he set both Mikasa and Eren down. Mikasa kept her arms tightly locked on Eren's motionless form. Everyone stared at him, wide eyed. Armin looked the worst though.

He had an expression of disbelief, and fear was written all over his face. Jason could practically see the thoughts racing through Armin's mind a mile a minute through his eyes. His mouth hung slightly open, and faint whimpering/choking sounds could faintly be heard.

"Any ideas?" Jason bumped Nico with his elbow, his eyes still locked on Eren.

"Not one." Nico remarked. "But something tells me Eren had control of that titan. How? I'm clueless there."  
"And why is he fully healed?" Jason asked. "I saw a titan bite his leg clean off!"  
"It might have something to do with the titan's regeneration ability," Nico said softly. "But I'm not Annabeth. I'm not going to make any calls or insane theories right now."

The dark haired boy glanced at Armin, about to ask if he had any ideas, but the question died on his tongue. Armin was tearing up, and he looked strained.

The blonde boy shakily reached down and lifted Eren's right arm. Eren's shirt sleeve was torn at the elbow, unlike the wrist length sleeve on his left arm.

 _I wonder if he lost that arm too._ Nico thought.

"How is this," Armin slipped his own hand into Eren's, their fingers intertwined. "How is this possible?"

Nico scowled and noticed Jean, who had turned around. Nico followed his gaze, his eyes scanning the battle grounds, where the corpses of the titans the abnormal had vanquished lay. They were rotting, steaming piles of spoiled flesh and crumbling bones now.

"So that means," Jean said faintly. "Eren did this?"


	15. Chapter 15

Percy buried his face in his hands, trying to wrap his head around the idea that Nico was presenting. Eren, emerging from the nape of a titan he had supposedly been controlling? It might not be common knowledge, but of all the demigods, Percy was the closest to Eren. He didn't recall the boy mentioning anything about controlling a titan. Killing them, well, yeah, quite often actually, but puppeteering one to kill other titans? That had never come up in a conversation.

"So where is Eren now?" Annabeth asked.

"The Garrison Regiment wanted to check him out." Nico replied. "They ordered us to wait with the other cadets on stand-by."

"They also ordered us not to say anything about Eren..." Jason said drily.  
Miniscule gems and precious stones popped out of the ground around Hazel. "That's unbelievable. Could it be a power given to him by the gods? Some children of Poseidon could shapeshift."

Annabeth's brow furrowed in concentration. "The gods aren't around anymore, but…" She turned to look at Frank. "Frank, try and become a titan."

"What?" Frank exclaimed. "A titan? No way! I don't even know if I can. And if I can, and then I do shapeshift into one, everybody would freak out! It's too risky Annabeth."

"Fine." Annabeth huffed. "Then transform into a bird or something and spy on Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Squawk if there's trouble."  
Frank frowned and rolled his eyes. "Alright." He stepped out of sight, into the shadows, then a kite (the bird, not the toy) flew out and landed on Hazel's head.

Annabeth nodded at him, and Frank the kite nodded back. He spread his wings and shot into the air.

She sighed and looked to the ground. Could Eren's transformation be a result of Greek magic? Children of Poseidon that the sea god favored could sometimes shapeshift, could Eren be a descendant of Poseidon?

 _No_ , Annabeth thought icily. _That's ridiculous. He's clearly not Poseidon's direct offspring, though he sort of resembles him. But even if he was a descendant of Poseidon, a gift like that is given to an individual, not a bloodline. Unless Poseidon did give it to the Jaeger bloodline, and he knew a time would come when it would be needed. But of all gods, why would Poseidon have important information like that? Did all the gods know the threat of the titans? What even caused all of them to fade from existence? Was it before or after the creation of the titans? How were the titans created? Did the have anything in common with the Greek titans besides size and appetite? Was there Greek magic in the titans? If so, how did it get there?_

"Hey, Angelo." Jean's voice said, yanking Annabeth back into reality. Nico stiffened and glanced over his shoulder.

"Actually, it's di, Angelo." He growled. "What do you want?"

Jean got to his feet, his eyes holding a murderous spark. "We had a gag order, remember? No exceptions for your friends, or anyone for that matter."  
"Must have slipped my mind." Nico hissed. He turned back to the rest of the demigods when Jean's hand suddenly clamped down on Nico's shoulder and roughly spun him back around.

"Word is gonna spread now, and we're the only ones who saw Eren!" Jean spat, seizing the front of Nico's shirt and jerking it forward. "They're gonna know it was one of us, and it'll be your fault if any of us end up beaten and imprisoned!"  
"Let go of me!" Nico barked, trying to shove Jean off, but Jean was much older and bigger than him.

"Hands off Jean." Jason smacked Jean's arm roughly.

"Aren't you upset about this too?" Jean's voice began to rise to a yell. "We could end up prosecuted because of this ugly beast!"

"I am upset about Nico blurting all of it out." Jason lied. "Though I'm choosing to handle it like an adult, not a toddler that needs it's binky, like _some_ _people_."  
Jean's eyes blazed with rage. He suddenly kneed Nico straight in the gut, hard. The dark haired boy gave a small choking sound and crashed to the ground, coughing blood.

"Why you-" Jason moved to tackle Jean, but Percy seized his arms and held him back.

No one held back Hazel, though.

She leaped forward and planted her foot where the sun doesn't shine, whilst punching Jean square in the face, sending him tumbling backward.

"Touch him one more time, and I swear, I'll skewer you straight through YOUR FREAKING HEART!" She screamed.

Jean shuffled away, his eyes wide and fearful but still furious.

"You okay Nico?" Annabeth asked, extending a hand towards the fallen boy.

"Y-yeah. I-I-I'm fine." Nico took Annabeth's hand and staggered to his feet. "He just took me by surprise, that's all."

"No, he hit you hard." Annabeth said stubbornly. "He might have broken one of your ribs. Let me check, okay?"  
Jason suddenly tore himself away from Percy and charged forward. Jean tried to escape, but it was clear that Jason was willing the air to keep him from going far.  
"JASON! Stop!" Annabeth yelled.

Suddenly, a loud, bird like cry pierced the air. Everyone froze and glanced up to see Frank the kite flying frantic circles overhead.

"Eren's in trouble!" Annabeth gasped. "Nico, go talk to Piper. She's with Leo in the medical bridge. Let them know what's going on, and have her check your ribs. Everyone else, let's go! Frank, lead the way!"  
The other cadets stared at the demigods as though they were insane, and no one could blame them. They were basically communicating with a bird.

Frank flew rapidly through the city, the demigods hot on his trail. As soon as they were out of sight, he zipped to the ground and turned back into a human.  
"They're gonna kill them!" Frank exclaimed as he ran.

"NO!" Percy yelled. "We have to get the-"

 _BOOM!_  
Percy halted in his tracks, the sound ringing in his ears like the never ending beat of a drum.  
"T-t-t-that was a c-c-cannon." Annabeth breathed.

Smoke wafted through the air, billowing high in mighty grey and white clouds. The smell of fire and ashes made it's way from the shot, being inhaled by the group with every pained, fearful breath.

"No!" Percy shouted. "He might still be alive! We need to help him!" He took off again, trusting his eyes and nose to lead him towards Eren.

"Come on!" Jason cried. "We've saved the world, we can save them!"

Percy rounded another alley to find himself at the origin of the smoke, the corner of Wall Rose. He could see a handful of the Garrison Regiment standing there, blades drawn, staring at the huge cloud of smoke that had obscured where Percy inferred Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had been, and hopefully still were, standing.

"EREN!" He screamed. "MIKASA! ARMIN!"  
The rest of the demigods were behind him when the smoke thinned into a gas that could be seen through, and what Percy saw was the stuff of nightmares.  
The huge top half of a titan was resting on the ground, with barely any muscle on its several white ribs. It had no left arm, but its right arm was covered with thick, shiny red muscle, and it was extended towards the top of Wall Rose. The titan's head was corpse like, with no skin and only one, beady green eye resting in a black eye socket, and it's mouth gaping open.

Armin and Mikasa were inside of the titan, standing in its empty rib cage. Armin looked mortified, and Mikasa looked like she was surveying a battlefield.

"Oh my gods." Annabeth breathed. "What is that?"  
"Eren must have turned into a titan." Jason said faintly.

Percy grit his teeth. Forget the titan, where was his friend?  
"HEY! YOU!" He barked at the Garrison Regiment officer, who was staring, dumbfounded at the huge creature. "Did you issue that cannon fire?"  
He didn't respond, his eyes still glued on the titan.

"I asked you…" Percy made a fist and got into a fighting position. "A QUESTION!"

Jason grabbed Percy's fist before it could collide with the officer's head.

"Calm. Down." Jason hissed quietly. "They're alright, but if you keep this up, we won't be."  
Percy glanced between Jason and the officer, before finally sighing in defeat. "You're right." He said. Then he regained his fierce, protective look. "But we have to check on them!"

"That, we can do." Jason agreed. "Hazel! Are there any precious stones around here you can summon into a barrier? I can probably fly us over it if you can summon one. That way we'll be safe from these guy's blades, and hopefully the cannon."  
"On it!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Let's do this." Jason growled.

They charged forward, breaking through the ranks of stunned military soldiers. Hazel spun on her heel once she was in front of the titan. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow, clearly concentrating. Percy barely managed to get next to her before huge, gleaming rocks exploded from the ground, stretching skyward for about fifty feet.

"Good job Hazel." Frank said. She smiled back at him, then stumbled, obviously weakened by the effort of summoning such a barrier.

"Armin, Mikasa!" Percy cried. "Where's Eren? What's going on? How did thi- OW!"  
A slab of bone fell from the titan carcass and hit Percy right on the head. He weakly glanced upwards to see a dark shape, probably the creature's head, shifting and rumbling as bone chips rained down.

"MAINTAIN YOUR DISTANCE!" Percy heard the officer bark. "ALL SQUADS REMAIN ALERT, IT COULD STRIKE AT ANYTIME! ARTILLERY CREW, GET THAT CANNON RELOADED!"  
"Eren?" Percy breathed. "Is this...Eren?"  
"Mikasa, Armin, what happened?" Annabeth asked darkly.

"I-I-I-I don't- h-h-h-how did- why is-" Armin glanced around frantically.  
"We know as much as you do at this point," Mikasa replied.

"So we're clueless," Percy said drily.

"Not quite," Jason remarked. "If Eren transformed into this, he must be in its nape, like last time."  
As if on cue, a hissing sound reached their ears, like a burst of steam.

"And he's probably there now." Jason dashed out of the ribcage and ran around the body, Percy, and Mikasa hot on his trail.

Eren was indeed kneeling on the nape of the titan, breathing shakily and glancing around with panic written all over his face.

"EREN!" Mikasa cried.  
"Mikasa! Are you alright?" Eren's gaze swept across the land. "When did that wall get there, and why are Percy and Jason here?"

"Explain later, escape now!" Percy exclaimed. "Can you get down?"  
"Yeah, hold on a sec!" Eren slid down the back of the titan. "Where's Armin?"

"He's with Annabeth, Hazel and Frank inside this thing." Jason gestured to the titan. "He's okay too. We're all okay."

"But, what are you-"

 _BOOM!_

The earth seemed to shake, knocking Percy off his feet.

 _They fired another shot at us._ Percy realized. _They've hit Hazel's barrier, it's shattering. We need to get with the others._

"The barrier's breaking!" Jason cried. Percy looked around and tried to locate any of his friends, but the smoke was too thick to see through at the moment.

"We need to get with the others!" Percy added. He felt around until his fingers found the smooth bone of one of the titan's ribs. He followed it back to the main gap, by then the smoke had cleared and Percy's eyes settled on Annabeth.

"Are you guys okay?" Eren exclaimed, running to them.  
"Yeah, we're good." Hazel said. "You?"

"We've been better." Percy cringed.

"E-E-E-Eren, how d-did you-"  
"I don't know!" Eren cut Armin off. "But look, it's already starting to vaporize just like the corpse of a titan."  
"It is the corpse of a titan." Percy said flatly. Annabeth smacked his shoulder.

There was a loud rumbling, and the barrier Hazel had summoned crashed to the ground.

 _We're next to defenseless right now,_ Percy thought. _The barrier fell and the titan's disintegrating._

"Let's get out of here! And Percy, I'm expecting an explanation the second we're out of here!" Eren yelled. He sprinted from the crumbling rib cage, slowed to a jog, then he came to a complete halt. "It's hard to tell if they're watching and waiting, or just totally dazed, though I suppose it doesn't matter much either way. I'm sure as soon as the smoke clears they'll resume the attack."  
"Idiots." Percy hissed. "They don't know what they're doing. You don't just shoot things you don't understand."  
"I can try to summon another barrier." Hazel offered.

"No, save your strength." Annabeth said gently. "They'd just blow it down again. We need a plan."

"Do you think we could talk to them?" Jason asked.

"Not after seeing this." Eren turned towards the titan. "I think we've blown any hope of reasoning with them." Eren tugged on a string around his neck that Percy hadn't noticed. Tied to the end was a bronze key.

"The cellar. I'm starting to remember." Eren glared at the key. "This key," he looked up, "Our house in Shiganshina. My father said I'd have to go back there, everything hinged on it! I think it's way he gave me the power to transform. If I can make it back to our cellar...I might learn the titan's secrets!"

Percy exchanged a look with Annabeth. They weren't present during the fall of Shiganshina or Wall Maria. They had an idea of where it was and what happened there, but they'd never laid eyes on it.

Could someone from there really know the titan's secrets?

Eren suddenly slammed his fist into the titan's rib, causing it to splinter.

"Why did he keep this stuff secret?" He growled. "How many thousands of Scouts have already died because my father didn't share this information?! It could be the last chance humanity has! Then the answer's been hidden away under our house this whole time? Is he insane? ...Screw him."

Percy glanced over his shoulder. The smoke was clearing, and he could see the forms of the soldiers, all standing in position. He was paying so much attention to them he almost didn't hear Eren.

"Where have you been these last five years Dad?"

"Eren." Mikasa grabbed the boy's shoulder. "We have other business to deal with."

"Right." Eren agreed. They jogged over to the rest of the group, standing there observantly.

"Get ready, the smoke's clearing!" One soldier said.

"As soon as you see it, blast it!" Another chimed in.

"Forget this! I-"  
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" The officer barked.

Suddenly, the titan's neck snapped, and it's head came tumbling to the ground with a mighty _thud_ , sending up new plumes of smoke and dust, obscuring the cadets from vision.

"Listen." Eren said darkly. "I'm getting out of here."  
Percy immediately whipped around to face his friend. "What?"

"Where?" Armin breathed, his azure eyes stretched wide. "H-how?"  
"Anywhere but here. Then I head over the wall and go straight for Shiganshina. But I'll have to become a titan again."  
"No Eren!" Percy hissed. "Be reasonable! You can't just leave!"

The brown haired boy looked as though he were about to say something, then Armin spoke.

"You can transform at will?" He asked shakily.

"To be honest I don't know how I'm doing it. I just know that I can. It's hard to put into words but, it was like, reflexive, see?" Eren spread his fingers, though his voice was becoming strained and raspy. "In that moment, my mind subconsciously focused on stopping the cannonball. That's why it's decaying. It only had the endurance to meet that task."  
Percy realized "it" meant that the crumbling titan beside them. He scooted a bit closer to Annabeth.

Eren's breathing grew heavy, labored even. Jason thought he might be having a panic attack before Eren began flexing his fingers and making a fist. His eyes blazed with fury.

"Next time I'll be stronger." He growled. "I'll be a fifteen-meter-high titan slayer like before!"

A stream of ruby red liquid slid down from Eren's nose, staining his face and lips a rich crimson. He didn't seem to notice.

"Eren!" Mikasa said urgently. "Your nose is-"

Eren quickly wiped some of the blood away and stared at it on his finger.

"Your breathing is erratic and you're pale." Armin said gently, but his desperation began to crawl into his voice. "Something's wrong Eren, you're not well!"

Eren scowled and brushed the rest of his blood away. "As things stand, my health is irrelevant."  
"It most certainly is not!" Jason exclaimed. "You need to calm down and think things through right now. Gods, where's Piper when you need her?"

"I have thought things through." Eren said sourly. "And I have two ideas. All of you could make it out of here alive, if you stopped trying to protect me."  
"No can do." Percy said. "You're a rare find Eren. We'll protect you from the devil himself if we must."

"Please." Eren rolled his eyes. "I brought you enough trouble as it is. So I'm doing this on my own from this point forward."

"NO!" Percy barked.  
"You're kidding." Armin breathed. The fear and longing in the young blonde's voice seemed to shatter Percy's heart almost as much as his frantic eyes did. Armin began to say something but was abruptly cut off by Mikasa's signature catchphrase.

"Eren." She said. "I'm coming too."

"No way." Eren said lowly. He looked dangerous right now, scary, even.

"I plan to follow you whether you give me permission to or not." She replied."I swear, I'll never leave your side."

"Mikasa stop it, I'm being serious here!" He snapped. "I'm not your little brother and I'm not some snot nosed toddler!"  
Percy flinched away from the argument. What was happening? Why was this happening? Just because one officer was unreasonable, Eren, who might be the key to turning the tide against the titans, was leaving? No. He wouldn't allow it. He'd been friends with Eren for three years, Jason even accused Percy of cheating on their bromance because they'd gotten so close. He wasn't about to let his best friend be taken from him because of this.

"I'll come too." Percy said. Eren rounded on him.

"What? Why you?" He asked.

"Darn it, because you're my friend Eren!" Percy barked. "I may not have spent a lifetime with you and I may not have witnessed your pain like these guys, but I do know you, and I do care for you. You'll have to get over the fact that me and Mikasa are going to be accompanying you if you leave."

"Listen, we won't-"  
"Just wait a second, would 'ya?" Eren cut Mikasa off. "If you recall I said I had two ideas." He turned to look at Armin, who had his empty blue eyes fixed on the ground. "Armin, I trust you to make the right decision."  
Armin sat up, his eyes wide. He released a little whimpering sound, clearly afraid.

"Now hear me out." Eren continued. "And yes, I'm aware of how unrealistic this plan is, but the best case scenario, I try to use my titan ability strategically, under military direction. This might sound crazy, but if you think you can convince the Garrison Regiment, right here and now, that I present no threat to them, I'll trust you and we'll go with that option. That's my second idea. If you don't think you can get it done then my last resort is the first idea. You've got fifteen seconds to decide. Think you can get it done?"

 _That's not fair,_ Percy thought. _Putting all that pressure on Armin. I'd take about an hour to decide if it were me, can he really make up his mind in fifteen seconds?_

"Listen, I'll respect your opinion either way." Eren said gently.

There was a loud clicking sound, and they knew the cannon was nearly loaded and ready to fire.

"Eren," Armin said softly. "Why would you leave such a major decision up to me?"  
"Because you keep a level head." Eren smiled without humor. "You always choose well, no matter how ugly things get. I figure that's worth relying on."

"When have I done that?" Armin asked shakily.

 _Yeesh_ , Percy thought. _This guy needs a confidence boost._

"Come on, you do it all the time." Eren replied. "Take five years ago. If you hadn't gone to Mr. Hannes for help, Mikasa and I would've been eaten by the titans."  
The skeletal backbone of the titan suddenly snapped and crashed to the ground, sending gusts of air forwards, blowing Armin's hair wildly, and yet again, stirring up clouds of dust. Armin's eyes were growing wet.

"Armin," Eren said hurriedly. "Our time's up."

The silence stretched on for a couple seconds. _  
_With his eyes shadowed from view by his bangs, Armin abruptly stood up. "I will persuade them, trust me. You all just act as non aggressively as you possibly can, agreed?"  
Everyone nodded. A small smile made it's way onto Annabeth's lips.

With a new aura of confidence, Armin strode through the smoke and dust clouds.

"Annabeth." Jason whispered. "I have the utmost faith and respect for Armin, I have every confidence that he can do this, but if things head south, I want you to stall those soldiers for as long as you can. While you do that, I'll send Frank to bring Piper here so she can...convince them. Sound good?"  
Annabeth nodded. "It won't come to that, but sure. Armin is as clever as me, and no one unreasonable and close minded would be given such a position of authority. He can persuade them, I know it."  
There was a clattering sound, like metal hitting concrete.

 _Armin removed his gear_. Percy thought. _Smart_.  
The boy must have charged through the smoke, because the next thing the cadets heard was the officer yelling "HALT, HALT!"

The sound of Armin's footfall had ended. Annabeth could faintly see him holding his arms up in an obvious gesture of surrender.

"IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR TRUE FORM, MONSTER?" The officer snarled. "I DON'T BUY IT. I'LL GIVE THE SIGNAL TO FIRE, I MEAN IT!"  
"Eren is not a foe of humanity!" Armin started. "We're willing to cooperate with military command and share everything we've learned about his powers!"  
"Your pleas find deaf ears! He revealed his true form and because of that he cannot leave here alive!" The officer raged. "If you insist he's not an enemy of ours show me proof! Otherwise, we'll blast him right back into whatever nightmare he crawled out of!"  
"You don't need any proof!" Armin retorted. "The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what we perceive him to be!"  
" _What_?"  
"The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him, and those who were there say they saw him fighting other titans! And that means they saw him get swarmed by the titans as well! To put it plainly, the titans saw him the same way they see each and every human being, as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you may look at it, that is an _irrefutable_ _fact_!"  
"Woah." Percy muttered. "Listen to him go. That guy's deaf if he's not convinced by now."  
There was talk around the Garrison Regiment, and Percy could swear he heard blades being lowered and clanging against each other.

 _It's working,_ Percy felt almost giddy. _We're going to make it out of this without anyone getting hurt._

"PREPARE TO ATTAAAACK!" The officer suddenly screamed. Percy's heart dropped into his stomach. _Or not._

"DON'T LET YOURSELF BE SWAYED BY HIS CUNNING LIES!" The officer ranted.

"The idiot." Annabeth hissed. "He's putting his own fear before the well being of humanity. He's trying to destroy what he doesn't understand, the fool. Surely he knows that Armin's right, it's not right to kill Eren now."  
"The titan's behavior has always been beyond our comprehension!" The officer snapped. "I wouldn't put it past him to assume human form. He- he- he- he- he's- he's speaking our language! In an attempt to deceive us! I REFUSE TO LET THEM CONTINUE THIS BEHAVIOR UNCHECKED!"  
The sound of swords clanging and guns being cocked rang out like a death bell.

 _We're right back where we started._ Jason realized.

"Annabeth, Frank." Jason said darkly. "Get ready. We'll see if Armin has any more tricks up his sleeve before I send you out."  
They nodded as Armin whipped around, his eyes pained and scared. Eren gave him a steady nod, and the blonde boy's fear seemed to melt, replacing by boiling rage. He turned back around, and Percy could easily imagine the fury and determination on his face.

"I am a soldier!" Armin yelled, getting into a salute. "And I have dedicated my heart to the restoration of humanity sir! Nothing can make me prouder, than dying for such a noble cause! IF WE WERE TO USE HIS TITAN ABILITY AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MANPOWER WE HAVE LEFT, I BELIEVE WE COULD DO IT! WE COULD RETAKE THIS CITY! FOR HUMANITY'S GLORY, AND FOR WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE _, I WILL APPLICATE HIS STRATEGIC VALUE_!"  
Annabeth felt as though she may start crying. Armin had intelligence that was in a class by itself, and a voice rich with emotion and honesty. Surely that bone headed officer knew that.

"Captain Vorn, his words are worth considering sir." One soldier said. "If we could just-"

"QUIEEETTTTT!" The officer, Captain Vorn apparently, shrieked.

"ANNABETH, FRANK, GO!" Jason barked.

"Roger!" Frank transformed into a kite and zipped out of there, heading to collect Piper, while Annabeth dropped her gear and charged from the fading dust.

"Wait!" She cried. "He saved my life!"

Captain Vorn halted, his hand nearly raised to give the signal to fire.

Instant mutters broke out among the soldiers.

 _If I can get them to turn against that idiotic captain, or maybe just come to a humane realization, I might be able to do this. I'll have to lie quite a bit about who I am though,_ Annabeth nearly frowned. _But desperate times call for desperate measures._

"That's right! I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for Eren Jaeger and his titan ability." Annabeth continued. She made herself look as pathetic as possible. "My father is among you, he is a member of the Garrison Regiment. In fact, he's very close to the top of the hierarchy. It was always my goal to someday join the military and defend humanity just as he still does, and he trained me every step of the way! I learned from one of your best, most respected officers, yet once I was on the field, I lacked the bravery to stand up to the titans."

She tried to put on an ashamed face. "I was scooped up by a titan, and I was dangling in front of the very jaws of death themselves, when a great creature, a titan, came tearing down the street. He knocked the other titan down with a single blow to its nape, a weakness only known to mankind. He then continued on his way, destroying titans and saving hundreds of lives as he went. I know for a fact that my father is extremely grateful of Eren Jaeger. Wouldn't you be too?" She searched the crowd with her eyes. _Okay, I've got something going here. I need to apply to their human, soft side._

"Imagine the one person you regard the most dearly in life. Now, imagine them about to perish, absolutely helpless at the hands of fate, with nothing you can do about it. You can listen to their screams and cries, their desperate pleas for somebody, anybody to help them, but you can't, because you don't know they're in that condition. They give up their will to live, believing that this is how they were meant to end, alone and forgotten, when this brilliant creature saves them from what would've been ultimate demise. How would that make you feel? Would you want to have such a beautiful thing, the creature that just saved the life of the one you hold closest to your heart, do you want him killed simply because you don't understand him? All those cadets whose lives were saved because of him, they all have families and friends, people that would lose their very reason for breathing if those cadets were to die, those friends and families understand this as much as you do. And I'm sure they're scared too, but they're grateful for him anyway because he's the reason their loved one still thrives. This boy, who has never done a thing to harm humanity or an innocent person ever, they're all grateful for. What's the difference between you and them? Do you really feel no connection to the soldiers whose hearts still beat because of this boy?"

Annabeth took rapid, huffing breaths. Armin was looking at her with some sort of a newfound respect. She had pulled all the stocks. She lied, guilted, sympathized, sweet talked, and painted a horror story into a plea worthy of Athena. However, wisdom doesn't always connect to the idiots in this world.

 _More emphasis Annabeth_.

She slammed her right fist over her left chest. "I hope you take my words into consideration, sir."

Swords and guns were lowered, and as Annabeth scanned the crowd, she noticed an older, unfamiliar man standing behind Captain Vorn. He was bald, with tanned, wrinkled skin and a small mustache. He wore a Garrison Regiment uniform, and several badges and awards were pinned to his jacket.

"My my." The man said. "That was quite a speech. And you sir, you should really do something about your nervous habits."  
Captain Vorn spun around frantically. "C-C-Commander Pixis!"

"Can you not see these soldier's heartfelt salutes?" The man, Commander Pixis, said, walking forward.

 _Okay,_ Annabeth thought. _The salute was a good move. Mental high five._

"I've only just arrived, but I am quite aware of our situation." He turned to the captain. "Gather our reinforcements. I think, we could at least do these young soldiers the favor of hearing them out."  
Armin collapsed to his knees, a silly grin on his face as he panted heavily. He grinned at Annabeth like she was a goddess of some sort.

 _Thank the non-existent gods_. Annabeth sighed. _That could have gotten ugly. Well, uglier._


	16. Chapter 16

Commander Pixis looked over the edge of the wall, surveying the titans that were frantically clawing at it.

"Nope, not any of you." He said. He had a sickly smile plastered on his face. "Eaten by a titan wouldn't be so bad, if it was a sexy lady one."

Annabeth exchanged a worried look with Jason. This "Commander Pixis" guy didn't seem very serious, even though they were in the midst of a crisis.

"So you know everything that's going on here sir?" Annabeth said.

"Of course I do, that's that. So, visiting this cellar should clear everything up?" The commander said.

"Y-yes sir," Eren replied. "At least I think so."  
The commander turned to look at the five cadets. "For the moment there is no way to validate your claims." He tapped his head. "For now I'll just catalog them in here. With that said, I can usually tell the difference between the untruthful and the sincere. Which is why I personally guarantee your safety."  
The cadets relaxed, not even knowing they were tense. Armin breathed a sigh of relief, a small smile crossing his face.

"Cadet Armin Arlert, is that correct?." Commander Pixis said.

"Yes, sir!" Armin responded, slamming his fist over his chest in a salute.

"You mentioned a plan to harness this so-called 'Titan Ability', and then utilize your friend's power to help retake the city. Do you believe it could work or were you grasping at straws to try and save your hides?" The commander asked.  
"Oh, well." Armin frowned, then met Commander Pixis's eyes. "Both, Commander. I was going to suggest that Eren, using his strength as a titan, could lift that giant boulder. We could use it to block off the wrecked gate. That was the best idea I was able to come up with on the spot."  
 _He's a genius_. Jason thought. _Pure, genius. Maybe he's a descendant of Athena or something._

"I just wanted to make everyone see how Eren's ability could provide a solution to the problem we all face," Armin said hurriedly. The commander gave him a small nod and turned back around, surveying the smoking city of Trost.

"Granted, I was pretty desperate to survive," Armin added.

"...Desperate to survive, huh?" Annabeth could practically smell the dry smile on the commander's face. "That's as credible a reason as any." He lifted a flask to his mouth and drank a swig before turning around and facing them. He walked forward and knelt down in front of Eren, his small golden eyes sparkling like that of a bird of prey.

"So, what do you think Cadet Jaeger?" He asked.

Eren tilted his head. "Say, sir?"  
"That hole." The commander prompted. "Do you think that you could plug it up, son?"

"Uh-" Eren blinked. "Well, I...I dunno." He lowered his head shamefully. "It's possible, but at the moment, I don't understand my power any more than you do. It's just...I sort of feel irresponsible giving you an answer, 'cause I don't really know."  
"Ah yes." The commander chuckled. "My apologies. I asked you the wrong question."  
 _What does he mean?_ Jason wondered. _What else could he have asked in this situation?_

"Are you willing to, Cadet Jaeger?" The commander frowned, though his voice sounded as though he were making a statement, not asking a question. "Or not."  
Eren jerked his head up, his eyes wide with surprise. Commander Pixis's eyes shifted away from Eren and focused on something behind him.

The cadets followed his gaze to see the town within Wall Rose, existing peacefully.

 _Eren could do it._ Jason thought. _I know he could. He has more sheer determination than an entire Roman squadron combined. Surely he'll say yes._

"...I'll do it," Eren said, lifting his head back into the sunlight. "I'll do it. I don't know if I can seal that hole, but, I'll do it, I swear."  
Jason smiled softly. Eren was as fiery and reliable as ever.

The commander grinned. "Excellently said. You have the heart of a lion." He got to his feet and spun to face Wall Rose. "Staff officers, hup! We have a plan to flush out."  
Armin gasped in surprise. "Wait, we- we can't actually be moving forward with this as our strategy, it was just something I tossed out there."  
"I was thinking the same thing," Eren remarked. "Except, he seems like a guy who knows what he's doing. Has it all under control, like we can't see the forest of trees but he's got a bird's eye view."  
"You think so?" Armin said.

"I agree with Eren," Annabeth said. "Anyone with as much power as him will definitely know what he's doing, and he knows your plan is one that could be carried out."  
"Either way, though," Eren continued. "We've got a whole other problem to address before we can get your plan off the ground. And my gut tells me that the commander's keenly aware of it."

"Which would be…?" Armin said shakily.

"Titans…" Eren growled. "Aren't our only foe."  
Armin let out a little whimper of shock.

"Look sharp soldiers." Commander Pixis called. He was flanked by two people, a male and female soldier. "The fate of mankind rests on your shoulders."

~:~

"Can you stand?" Piper asked nervously, extending a hand towards Leo.

"Y-yeah." Leo took her hand and shakily go to his feet. He had constructed a very makeshift prosthetic limb for his missing leg. It wasn't very easy to use, but all the soldiers who could fight titans were required to join a Trost recovery mission. Leo wasn't about to let one titan chomp render him useless.

"I still think you should stay here and rest. Or try to improve that peg leg." Nico said drily.

"It's not a peg leg di Angelo," Leo replied. "It is a fully functional prosthetic limb."  
"It's a stick of metal with the flat part of a frying pan as a foot."

"No! See, here's the knee joint."  
"That's a ball you screwed onto the metal and stitched onto your stump of a leg."  
"Shut up di Angelo."

"Boys." Piper snapped. "We need to go. Leo, if you believe you can perform your duties as a soldier with that leg, you can go. However, I'm with Nico on this one, I think you should stay here and make that leg as close to the one you lost. We want you to be able to run away if need be."  
Leo frowned. "Fine. But as soon as I have a functional leg I'm going to find you guys."  
"Fine by us." Nico shrugged. He started towards the door, then turned around and looked at Piper. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," Piper replied. "I just have something I want to do first. Wait with the others, I'll find you."  
Nico nodded and walked out. Piper turned and stepped into a separate room and pulled Katropis out of her pocket. All the demigods kept their signature weapons in the ODM gear with the rest of their titan killing blades, just in case.

She stared at her reflection in the blade. Dark circles swept under her eyes, and she had gotten much thinner. This place was taking a toll on her for sure. However, she didn't draw her knife just to stare at herself. She took out the braid in her hair and slid the feather into her pocket. Her hair was too long for her to cooperate with, even in a bun, braid, or ponytail.

Piper pulled all her hair to the side, and in one clean slice with her knife, her dark brown hair fell to the floor. She looked at herself in Katropis once more. Her hair didn't even scrape her shoulders. She redid her braid, inserting the feather into it as well, before leaving the room.  
"You cut your hair," Leo observed.

"What gave it away?" Piper smirked. She tugged the door open and glanced over her shoulder. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Is my nose on fire?" Leo retorted as a flame flickered to life on the center of his face.

Piper chuckled softly and stepped out of the medical bridge.

"IF YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME, JUST DO IT AND GET IT OVER WITH!" A man cried frantically.

"SHUT UP! DON'T THINK I WON'T!" Another man yelled back.

Piper blinked, surprised. She spotted Nico waving her over out of the corner of her eye, and she tried to shuffle over unnoticed.  
"Where's Annabeth and Jason?" She whispered, instantly noticing the lack of blonde heads in the group.

"With Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the commander," Percy whispered back. "They're good. Some soldiers here are freaked out, though."  
Piper frowned and stood next to Nico, then turned her attention to the wall, where she could barely see two figures standing in front of the billowing flags.

"ATTEN _TIIOOOOON_!" One figure, that Piper assumed was the commander, shouted. The crowd silenced and snapped to attention.

"Take note," he continued. "The blueprint of the Trost Recovery Operation is this! Our primary objective is to reseal the hole. Yes, you heard right. What's more, it will be done manually!"  
Gasps and mutters of fear rippled through the crowd of cadets. Piper kept her multi-colored gaze fixed on the commander.

"As for how the task will be done, that's where this fellow comes in." The commander gestured to the other figure.

 _That must be Eren._ Piper realized, remembering both Frank and Nico's explanation. _That's how we're sealing the hole, isn't it?  
_ "Allow me to introduce, Cadet Eren Jaeger!" The commander said, confirming Piper's suspicions. Eren stepped up and saluted.

More fearful talk broke out amongst the cadets, even some soldiers were looking suspicious.  
"Don't let appearances deceive you." The commander instructed. "This young man is, in fact, the successful product of cutting edge science. Fantastic as this may sound, Cadet Jaeger possesses the ability to fabricate and control a titan body at will!"  
So it is true. Piper thought. Eren can become a titan.

"Recall the massive boulder roughly a league from the gate, having assumed titan form, Cadet Jaeger will hoist said boulder on his back, shove it in the hole and _voila_! And this is where you all come in. Your job will be to defend him! Yes, defend a titan against his own kind."

"So, why are only Annabeth and Jason up there?" Piper asked.

"Well, Annabeth stalled that Captain Vorn guy long enough for Commander Pixis to arrive, so Eren, Mikasa, and Armin felt obliged to take her. " Percy answered. "And Jason was the only one out of all the demigods there that actually saw Eren emerge from the titan corpse, so they took him too."

"...Do you think Eren can lift that boulder?" Piper asked.

"Yes." Percy said immediately. "He could lift that boulder with the sheer force of will. He can do it."  
"THEY'RE LYING!" A man in the crowd shrieked. "I'M NOT GONNA BE DRAWN INTO SACRIFICING MYSELF FOR THIS CRAP! WE'RE JUST DISPOSABLE TOOLS FOR YOU PEOPLE! YOU EXPECT US TO LIVE OR DIE FOR WHATEVER COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!"

Piper grit her teeth and located the man.  
"Hey, didn't he pick on Eren after the Aptitude test?" She muttered.  
"Yeah, his name's Daz," Percy growled. "Coward."  
Talk spread through the cadets, and in no time flat, people spun on their heels and began marching away. Piper clenched her fist and tried to trip every cowardly soldier that walked by her.

"So help me God I'll execute you on the spot!" A soldier clapped his hand on Daz's shoulder as the cadet began to retreat.

"Screw you, my family gets the time I have left!" Daz retorted, smacking the soldier's arm away and continuing his exit.

"Traitors, I'll kill you where you stand!" Captain Vorn exclaimed, whipping his blades out. "Desertion is answered by death!"  
Piper heard people frantically scream or whimper in fear, shoving frantically to put as much distance between the psychotic captain and themselves.

"ANYONE WISHING TO LEAVE," Commander Pixis suddenly barked. "WILL BE, BY MY PERSONAL ORDER, NOT BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!"  
Piper looked back up at the wall in surprise. They were literally breaking their oaths as soldiers by leaving, what was he doing?  
"Those who have seen a titan firsthand will not be expected to visit such horror again." He continued. "Whomever this applies to, you may leave with my blessing! Additionally, anyone with family or loved ones they would spare from the same trauma may also leave! The crown will continue to recognize your service, thank you and good luck!"  
 _Clever,_ Piper thought. _He's got a way with words and humane feelings. He's guilted them into staying._

Slowly, the soldiers who had retreated strode back into the crowd, some looking ashamed, others with their heads held high.

"Now, think back four years ago!" Commander Pixis shouted. "Namely, the operation to retake Wall Maria! I bring it up because you all deserve to have your suspicions confirmed. Officially, we labeled it recognizance, but in fact, as most of you probably know, it was little more of a purge, a thinly disguised exercise in population control."  
Piper's breath hitched in her throat. Didn't Armin's grandfather, the one who had practically raised him, die in that mission?

"We knew this in our hearts, of course, we did." Shame leaked into the commander's voice. "Yet we turned a blind eye! We supported the state sponsored myth because the deaths of our fellow human beings allowed us to survive, pure and simple. The guilt is ours, we share the blame, all of us. The citizens of Wall Maria sustained themselves on the slaughter of the refugees who had flown to us for help, but turn about as fair play is it not? If Wall Rose succumbs the population will fall by a whole other order of magnitude! The lands comprising Wall Sina wouldn't support half the people now living! If we're wiped off the face of the earth, the culprits will not have been the titans I assure you! Oh no, we will have done it to ourselves. If the line isn't drawn now It won't be drawn at all. IF WE MUST DIE, LET US DIE HERE!"

~:~

"Let's get this straight right now," Ian, the squad leader said. "Whatever you are, all I care about is you getting that rock in place. Can we count on you?"  
"Yes sir, I won't let you down!" Eren replied as he ran alongside Mikasa.

"You're absolutely sure you're gonna be alright to do this?" She asked frantically.

"I got it." Eren hissed.

"Seriously-"  
"How many times do you want me to say it?" Eren snapped. "You just go do your job and I'll do mine."  
"Look," Rico said as she butted between the two. "Now's not the time to be playing house."

"Come on it isn't like that!" Eren protested.

"I'm going to say what we're all thinking here." Another soldier, Mitabi said. "The fact that the fate of mankind depends on a little brat like you doesn't make me hopeful."  
"Shut it, will you?" Jason barked. "We're all scared, but that gives you no right to lash out at Eren."  
"All of you, stop it right now," Ian commanded. "We're about to be in range of the giant boulder. I'm not seeing any titans nearby, the decoy strategy must be doing the trick."

Jason glanced at the far corner of Trost. A huddle of titans was gathered there, and was frantically clawing at the wall, where the next to invisible forms of miniscule people hung down using ODM gear.

"There's something I want you to be aware of Jaeger," Rico said, her eyes set straight forward and her tone icy. "Make no mistake, more than a few of our comrades are going to die today trying to pull this off. Their blood's on your hands."

Jason scowled. It might be true, but telling Eren this now wouldn't help anything.  
"I'm talking friends, captains, lieutenants, cadets. Yes they are soldiers, they are prepared to die, but remember, everyone one of them is a flesh and blood person. Every one of them has dreams, hopes, fears, every one of them has a name. Aliosha, Dominique, Phenai, Isabel, Ludwig, Martina, Gwido, Hans. They're not pawns, they're people. Some of them living together like family since their cadet years. This may well be the end of them. Whole families snuffed out in a moment. Whatever you think your mission is Jaeger, your first and foremost concern today is to make sure their deaths mean something. Whatever happens, you keep that lodged in your mind. Take everything that comes with deadly seriousness."  
 _Like you?_ Jason thought drily. Though he couldn't pretend Rico's words weren't untruthful.

"Right!" Eren's eyes gleamed with determined fire.

Jason saw the boulder. They were getting close, and they were no titans in sight.

 _I've gotta do this right._ Jason thought. _Armin's trusted me, and Eren's too precious to die. I can't let either of them down._

Armin insisted to Commander Pixis that Jason be in Eren's protection squad, since he had the ability to fly. Armin also made Jason promise that as soon as they had time to talk, he would explain all the weird powers the demigods had. Nico's ability to summon the dead, Jason controlling the air, Hazel summoning the crystal barriers, and Annabeth's sharp wit. Even though Jason feared the truth would be straining for Armin's mind to wrap around, the boy deserved to know the truth.

"This is the place, let's do it!" Ian yelled, and with that, leapt off the wall, every soldier excluding Rico following.

Jason willed the air to shove him forward as he shot wires and zoomed through the sky. He had to at least pretend to use the ODM gear, since he didn't want to explain the fact that he was a demigod to all of humanity.

There was a great _bang!_ and plumes of green smoke rocketed into the air.

 _We're a go._ Jason thought.

Eren moved the fastest, zipping under and around towers and bridges. Jason was right behind him, keeping a respectful distance so he wouldn't be caught in the blast of heat that followed Eren becoming a titan.

Jason's feet hit the roof of a house and he instantly shot upwards once more, flying through the air with cords shooting from his gear.

Then it happened.

There was a great explosion, turning the world green and black. A ripple of heat shot out from where Eren had been. Jason only got a glimpse of the huge beast, it's green eyes glowing and jaws stretched open, before it was obscured by smoke.

Jason settled onto the roof with Mikasa, watching and waiting for something to happen.

Eren the titan stepped out of the smoke, fifteen meters of raw muscle, skill, and determination. His dark, ragged hair ended just after his elf like ears in uneven locks. His mouth opened and he turned towards the sky as he released a mighty roar, a battle cry riddled with all the rage the boy contained.

Eren closed his jaws and seemed to study the boulder for a second, before turning to lock his luminescent green eyes on Mikasa and Jason. He looked murderous.

"What is he doing?" Jason muttered. "Does he just want to make sure we're here?"  
The massive creature took two steps, and against his impression of Eren being kind, Jason realized what was going to happen mere milliseconds before it did.

"LOOK OUT!" Jason screamed, just as Eren's fist collided with the roof.


	17. Chapter 17

Mikasa and Jason barely managed to dodge Eren's fist once it hit the roof. Jason shot into the air to avoid the titan's attack, though Mikasa was forced to leap to the side and collide with a wall.

Eren pulled his steaming hand back, surveying the roof with an intense expression. Jason let out a shaky breath, watching the titan cautiously. _What was Eren doing? Was he even in control? Surely he didn't want to kill us, he's better than that!_  
The titan tensed his other arm and squeezed his hand into a fist, his glowing green eyes fixed on Mikasa.

"ACKERMAN, LOOK OUT!" Ian cried. Mikasa remained motionless for a millisecond, before a screaming Eren swung his fist at the girl, sending bricks and tiles flying through the air. Mikasa jumped into the air just in time to avoid the punch, and to Jason's surprise, fired her wires straight at Eren.

"Mikasa, wait!" Jason exclaimed. She ignored him and went zooming towards Eren, planting her feet on the bridge of his nose and seizing a lock of his hair in one hand.

Eren seemed to study her, not moving from his position. He let out a small rumbling growl, clearly not appreciating Mikasa's closeness.

"Hey! Ackerman, stand down now!" Ian commanded. "Get away from him, that is an order!"

"Eren!" Mikasa cried desperately, tugging on Eren's hair. "I know you're in there somewhere, I know you recognize me! That's right, come on! Snap out of it, we've got a breach to seal up!"  
Eren continued to growl, going slightly cross eyed to look at Mikasa.

 _Does he really recognize her?_ Jason wondered. _He just tried to kill her twice! And his hand is fully regenerated and twitching. She's in trouble._

"Mikasa, come down and calm down!" Jason exclaimed. "He looks like he's going to try to hit you again!"

There was a loud bang, and Jason quickly glanced over his shoulder to see that Rico had fired the red smoke signal, the color meaning failure. Jason grit his teeth and whipped back around.

"Eren!" Mikasa said. "Listen to me- you're human!"  
"Get out of there!" Ian yelled.

Mikasa noticed Eren's hand as it came flying towards his face, and she sprung off of him, landing expertly on the roof with everyone else.

Eren grunted and stretched his jaws open in a silent scream, his eyes and stumps of wrists steaming. He staggered, took a shaky step backward, and collapsed into a sitting position with his back against the boulder. He remained there, motionless.

"What the heck?" Matabi said. "You're telling me the kid was a regular titan all along?"

Jason scowled at him. He was confident Eren wasn't a titan, though he couldn't deny he was acting strangely.  
"Eren!" Mikasa shouted. Jason quickly approached her, ready to grab her if she tried to go reason with Eren again.

"Captain!" A voice called. "We've got two titans bearing down on us from the front! A ten meter and a six meter!"  
"Heads up!" Another man put in. "We've got another twelve meter closing in on us from the rear!"

Jason whipped around, identifying each titan. He could probably take at least one of them down.

"Ian, that's it." Matabi said. "Please, just look at it."  
Against his will, Jason glanced over his shoulder at Eren, lying there motionless.

"We need to get out of here, the plan's a bust." He continued.

"Agreed." Rico remarked. "Full withdraw. We have to leave him as he is."

Jason grit his teeth, about to speak up, when Mikasa whipped around. Her eyes teemed with a murderous rage worthy of Eren, and her expression was showing fury Jason couldn't pretend to know. She would kill to keep this boy safe, and Jason felt she might do that if someone didn't speak up.

Ian flinched away, seeming to come to the same realization as Jason.

"I'm staying whether you retreat or not." Jason growled, breaking the thick silence. "You can run back with your heads bowed in shame and retire for all I care. Eren is in there, alive, and I'm not leaving a soldier on the battlefield. I was raised with honor."  
Mikasa gave him a grateful look.

"Ian, snap out of it what are you waiting for?" Matabi suddenly shouted. "Give the order! Hey, it's not like this is your fault, come on! Look, this plan was doomed from the start, we all get that! Was it worth a shot? Sure, whatever, we did the best with what we had, but all we've got left now is going back over the wall."  
"...I don't think I like you very much." Jason decided, glaring at Matabi.

"Why should I care, four eyes." Matabi hissed. He steadily began walking towards the edge of the roof.

Mikasa whipped her blades out and began to charge, but Ian thrust in arm in her path.

"Stop! Easy." Ian shifted to use his whole body as a barrier between Matabi and Mikasa. "Now's not the time." He turned away from Mikasa, but kept his body in place. "Team Rico, take out the twelve meter approaching from behind. Team Matabi and I will handle the two front runners."  
The shock on the soldier's faces was comparable to that of a man just struck by lightning.

"Are you nuts?" Rico exclaimed furiously.

"In case you've forgotten I'm the one in charge!" Ian barked. "Now do as your ordered soldier." He relaxed his stance. "We are not leaving Jaeger defenseless, period. Change of plans, our job now is to keep the others off him until he can be recovered. Whether we like it or not he's still our last best chance. We're not about to abandon him. We're expendable, he isn't. He can't just be replaced."  
"Please." Rico growled. "Don't talk to me about our last best chance. He's a failure countless soldiers have died because of." She pointed an accusing finger at Eren. "Just look at him Ian, are you saying you want more of us to die saving that?"  
"That's right." Ian replied. "Down to the last man. If that's what it takes so be it!"  
Once Rico recovered from her initial shock, she snapped, "Ian you can't be serious!"

"What other hope against the titans do we have?" Ian snapped back. "You know something I don't? This is it, this is all we've got an you're well aware of it! I am making a judgement call here! If you have a better plan speak up! How else are we ever going to get out from under their feet? I'm all ears here!"  
"If you're asking me how else we'll defeat the titans, obviously I have no idea." Rico said drily.

Ian relaxed. "See? That's why we can't afford to be a retreat. Not just yet. We may not know what else is in there, but there's hope. And as long as that's the case, we're gonna fight 'till the bitter end."  
Neither Rico or Matabi had a response to this, they simply kept their eyes trained on him, one frightened and panicky and one withering and cold.

"Look at us." Ian sighed. "Always scraping by. Always on the run. Don't you… Don't you want it to be over? Don't you wanna make a stand? Well this is how it's done."

Him and Mikasa exchanged a knowing look. Jason frowned. This people had been oppressed for so long, none of them deserved this. He was going to fight for them. Keep them safe and free them from the terrible clutches of the monstrous titans if it took a week or fifty years.

"This is just-" Rico grit her teeth, visibly shaking. "This is madness!" She slowly walked away, trembling as she went.

"Hey!" Ian barked.

"I think you're right." She said icily. "If we're to stand, this is the only way." Rico turned back around to face her squad. "Just this once, let's fight a fight that's not just a battle of defense. Let the beast's taste humanity's wrath. Right, my team will address the twelve meter titan approaching from the rear." She stalked off. Matabi followed, suite, heading in the opposite direction.

"Well." He grunted. "We've got the two in front or don't we?"  
"Right." Ian said, a bit wistfully.

Matabi dashed off the roof and fired a wire.

"Thank you captain." Mikasa said. "That was brave."

"No it wasn't." Ian protested. "There's no thanks needed. The fact of the matter is I was petrified of the mess you were about to get into." He drew his blade. "But you're free now. Go, do your thing, make us of that inborn skill."  
"Sir." Mikasa nodded.

"Go save the man you love." Ian said, and with that, he dashed off the roof.

Mikasa turned red. "It's not like that."  
"Oooh!" Jason squealed. "So cute!"  
"Shut up Grace." Mikasa flushed deeper. "We've got to keep Eren safe."  
Jason straightened and cleared his throat. "Yes, of course."

Mikasa turned and studied Eren for a moment. "Wait, his wounds haven't repaired themselves yet." She pointed out. "Could the earlier damage have compromised him?"  
"Hm." Jason stared at the steam steadily rising off the fallen titan's body. "Unlikely. It might have something to do with why he's not acting himself. If he has no control over his titan body, he might not be able cycle around his regeneration energy."  
"What if he never comes back?" Mikasa breathed shakily.  
"Mikasa!" Jason gasped. "No, he's going to come back. If the plan does fail, we slice the nape and tug Eren out! That's where he is, remember?"  
"What if his nape was damaged when he fell?" Mikasa asked frantically.

"Do you want me to check?" Jason offered.

"I-"  
"I'll go check." He decided. He jumped into the air and willed the air to swing him around to Eren. He surveyed the titan's thick, muscled body. His nape was in the condition it was supposed to be in.

"He's good!" Jason called. He flew back around to settle on the roof next to Mikasa.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Mikasa said slowly. "How do you do that? The flying thing."  
Jason felt blood rush to his face. "Uh, that's a conversation for when we're not fighting titans, seeing as it would take...quite some time for us to reach a satisfactory end to the discussion. As for now, let's just say I'm not from around here."  
Mikasa surveyed him warily, but nodded. "Okay. Is there a limit to how much you can do that or is it only possible in certain conditions or..?"  
"I can do it anywhere that there's air." Jason shrugged, noticing a seven meter titan out of the corner of his eye while doing so. "Shoot. I'll be right back."

"I'm going to check on Matabi and Ian." Mikasa said. "Watch Eren for me."  
"Will do." Jason bowed. "Your man will remain untouched."  
Mikasa blushed again and took off, heading in the same direction as Matabi and Ian.  
Jason leapt of the roof and used the wind to propel him forward. The titan turned and fixed it's dark eyes on him, it's small mouth slowly stretching wider and wider in anticipation of it's next meal.

Just as the creature's jaws were about to clamp down on him, Jason shot into the air and doubled back, his blades out and ready to tear titan flesh.

His grip tightened as they sunk through the hard skin and muscle, an unnerving ripping sound following his blades as blood sprayed from the titan onto Jason's body. The tension was relieved, and he hovered in midair, watching the giant collapse to the ground. The blood evaporated off his skin as he zoomed through the air and landed on the roof.

Jason turned his attention back towards Eren to see wires fired across his line of vision and a small blonde figure speed towards the fallen titan.

"Hey!" Jason barked. He jumped off the roof and rocketed towards the boy.

"Huh?" The blonde turned and revealed Armin's face, causing Jason to halt mid-flight.

"Armin!" Jason gasped. "What are you doing here?"  
"I-I-I-I-I saw the red smoke," He explained frantically as he settled down on Eren's back. "So I came here to see what was wrong. What happened?"  
"He went nuts!" Jason said. "He tried to kill me and Mikasa, then Mikasa tried to snap him out of it. He accidentally hit himself trying to hit her, and he just collapsed there. He hasn't budged for minutes now, and he's not regenerating either!"  
Armin's eyes widened fearfully. "But- how?"

"Armin," Jason said. "You might want to get off him. If he wakes up he'll probably try and kill you too."  
"Hey! What's going on?" Mikasa's familiar voice called. Jason glanced over his shoulder to see her standing on the head of a fallen, relatively close titan.

"What happened to the plan?" Armin exclaimed.

"We've been forced to change tactics!" Mikasa replied. "Right now all we can do is protect him, he's defenseless! And there's- there's just so many! I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"  
Armin grit his teeth and spun back around, studying Eren with his hard, glacier blue eyes.

"Mikasa, how many are there?" Jason asked.

"Four more came in, all over ten meters!" She replied. "And more! They just keep coming in!"  
"Any that I could take care of?"  
"Yeah, the one that's- ARMIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Mikasa suddenly screamed.

Jason whipped around to see Armin, blade in hand, staring coldly at Eren's nape.

"I'm pulling him out of here!" Armin replied.

"Pulling him out of the titan or out of existence?" Jason yelled. "The nape is the weak spot, remember? You can't slice him there!"  
"Just hold off the other titans for as long as you can!" Armin shouted back.

"Wait!" Jason protested. "What are you going to-"  
"When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot!" Armin fired his wires into each of Eren's shoulders. "I don't know, but something tells me that's a big part of the picture, how these things work." Armin raised his blade with trembling arms. "It'll be alright, as long as I don't hit the center." Then, he added more quietly, "This won't kill him. But, well, it is going to hurt, ALOT!"  
"NO!" Mikasa cried.

Armin plunged his blade into Eren's neck swiftly and relentlessly. The titan immediately reacted, snapping back to attention and throwing his head back. He roared loudly, while Armin struggled to keep his hold on the blade handle.

Eren thrashed, but he seemed unable to get off the ground. He made pained, animal like cries as he struggled and flailed against what Jason imagined was a pain like fire ripping through his body. Armin bounced back and forth, determination gleaming in his eyes as Eren attempted to shake both him and the blade off.

"Stop it!" Mikasa exclaimed. "You'll get yourself killed!"  
"I'm fine!" Armin replied. "Just do what you can to keep the rest at bay, trust me, there's other people you should be worried about. Now leave Eren to me and go do what you do best!"  
 _I've got to trust him with this._ Jason thought _. Now's not the time to start doubting my friends. But I swear to the gods Armin, Eren, Mikasa, if you get hurt, I'll flip out._

Jason sprung off the roof and rocketed through the air. Most of the titans seemed to be coming from the area closest to the inner gate. He'd make his way over there, that's where all the titans were. Nip 'em in the bud.

There was a sudden flash of flesh color in front of him, and Jason halted just in time to avoid his legs being removed by the jaws of a four meter.

"You hunt dirty, don't 'cha?" Jason hissed as he yanked his blades out. "I hate it when people fight dirty, especially when they're already filthy creatures like _you_!"  
He shot down and circled the titan with impossible speed, dragging his blades through the creature's nape. It stumbled, then fell to the ground, sending dust floating up.

"That's what I thought." Jason growled. He turned and saw another titan approaching, long, lanky, and three times as big as the one he had just taken down.

"Wow, you really are everywhere." He commented. "Guess I have to kill you now."

The titan grinned as though the thought of being killed was a pleasant memory.

Jason used the wind to zoom through the air, helping him close in on the titan faster than ODM gear could have.

"DIE!" Jason screamed, and he sliced the beast's nape before it could react. "I'M GOING BACK HOME, AND YOU'RE NOT STOPPING ME!"  
Everything was a blur. The second a titan came within his eyeline Jason tore through the air, filled with an unfamiliar adrenaline rush of rage. He'd been kept in this nightmare for three years. He had family and friends to get back to. His sister Thalia, his best friend Reyna, Coach Hedge, Mellie, their son, he'd even settle for his father's disapproving glare. He wanted to go back home, and see them again.

"YOU'RE THE REASON I'M HERE!" Jason exclaimed as he ripped through another titan, not even bothering to aim for the nape. All the pent up rage, sadness, and fear he had kept locked away for three years couldn't be controlled any longer. He would cut each titan into ribbons before he killed it, he'd cause it as much pain as possible. It was their fault he was here. If they didn't exist, he could already be back at home, relaxing at Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood, talking to Piper or sparring Percy, spying on Will and Nico, tolerating Leo's passionate experimental fits, talking about being a praetor with Frank…

"YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted. "SO COME GET WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR! I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON! I DON'T CARE! YOU DID THIS TO ME, AND _YOU'RE GOING TO PAY_!"  
 _Slash._

 _Slash._

 _Slash._

 _Slash._

 _Slash._

Blood sprayed everywhere, even some of his own. He didn't even feel his blades accidentally slice his skin. He didn't care. He was going to kill them for what they'd reduced him to.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL?" He screamed. "I'M TAKING EVERYTHING FROM YOU!"

"JASON!" Someone suddenly cried.

"What are you doing? You've just- Jason, are you okay?"  
"Hey bud, snap out of it."  
The fog cleared from Jason's mind.  
He was cut all over, on his arms, chest, face, and legs. None too severe, but still tingling with pain. Ruby red liquid was evaporating off his clothes, though his own blood remained and was smudged all over his glasses.

Percy, Piper, and Annabeth stood a few feet away from him, concerned looks on their faces. Jason let his gaze sweep the land.

Titan corpses were scattered everywhere, almost all of them torn apart. Smoke rose so furiously, it seemed to be the only thing Jason could see besides his friends.

However, he did see a familiar figure standing atop a nearby roof, watching Jason intently. Before he could identify them, he felt his shoulders being roughly grabbed.

"Jason, are you okay?" Piper asked gently.

A single tear fell from Jason's eye, carving it's way through his blood. "What happened?"  
"You went beserk." Percy answered. "You took out at least eight titans just now. And you did it slowly and painfully. It was scary to watch. You kept screaming bloody murder."

"Oh. Wait," Jason wiped some blood off his face. "What are you guys doing here?"  
"Since some of the titans were wondering away, so we were sent out to cut them off before they got to Eren." Annabeth answered.

"How about you stick with us?" Piper offered.  
"Sure." Jason sighed. "Yeah, okay."

"After all," Percy smiled drily. "Every titan we kill brings us a step closer to going home. Unleash your beast mode to kill 'em if you must, but we will get home."  
Jason grinned at his friend and held his fist out. Percy bumped his own hand against it.

"Lovely bromance boys," Annabeth said. "But we've got two twelve meters coming from the front and back. Me and Percy will get the ones in front, Piper, Jason, take care of the ones in the back."  
"Aye aye, Captain Chase." Jason fake saluted, then spun on his heel and locked his gaze on the ginger twelve meter.

"You ready?" Piper asked, a sly grin on her face.

"Oh yeah." Jason nodded. "Nice hair cut, by the way."  
With that, they charged.

Jason whisked himself into the air and commanded the wind to propel him towards the titan. Piper flew alongside via ODM gear, surprisingly keeping up with him the whole time. She looked stunning, but Jason quickly returned his focus to the task at hand.

"I'll distract him, you just get around and slice the nape!" He barked.  
"On it!" Piper replied. She fired her wire to the left of the titan and swung around. The titan turned as if to bite her, but Jason fired a wire into it's eye.

The titan turned and looked at Jason sadly, as though he had really hurt its feelings. Suddenly, it leaped at him, its mouth stretched open, revealing all of the huge blood stained teeth and slimy tongue it held there.

Jason abruptly veered upwards, and a lock of the titan's red hair brushed his thigh, and he felt its hot breath on his foot.

Piper zipped under him and slashed through the titan's nape. Blood sprayed from the slice and a chunk of flesh tumbled to the ground.

She landed on a roof and watched the titan collapse to the ground, its body already steaming.

"Nice job Pipes!" Jason said.

"Thanks! Are there any others around here that we should get?" Piper lowered her blades.

Jason scanned the land. Titans were stumbling in from the breach surprisingly fast, turning his stomach with fear. What was drawing the beasts in like this?  
"Let's make our way to the breach!" Jason called. "That's where most of them are!"  
"Roger!" Piper fired a wire at another roof and went zooming off, her short, choppy brown hair waving behind her.

Jason shot through the air alongside his girlfriend, glancing around for any other enormous humanoids who wanted to devour them.

Soldiers flew between buildings and giants, some vanishing behind the looming mass of a titan, others cutting down the ugly beasts.

"Heads up!" Piper screamed. She shot to the side, revealing a fifteen meter titan with close cropped brown hair and a bulging belly in their path.

Jason willed himself to the right as quickly as he could before swinging back around with his blade in the titan's nape.

"Show off!" Piper yelled as the titan sank to the ground, dead.

Before Jason could reply, a familiar, titan like roar pierced the air.


	18. Chapter 18

Nico ducked into the alley, narrowly avoiding the titan's outstretched fingers as they tried to wrap around him.

"Shoot." He growled. "They're everywhere."

He glanced around the corner, his eyes scanning for anymore of the giant humanoids. The one that had been stalking him for a couple minutes was still there, it's hand slowly finding it's way to the alley, but other than that one, there weren't any titans within twenty meters of him.

Nico suddenly seized the handle to a door next to him and jerked it open. He retreated inside the building as the titan's fingers began to fumble around where he had been standing mere moments earlier. He slid the door shut as quietly as he could and finally let out a sigh of relief.

The dark haired boy's eyes swept the building. It looked like the typical home in this time period, with items of all different varieties were strewn across the floor.

Nico removed his busted ODM gear and roughly threw it against the wall. A titan had attempted to eat him, and though Nico got away, the amount of force that the titan used whilst gripping his body had bent almost all of his blades and tore the systems of the gear apart. The only weapon that survived was his Stygian Iron sword, which he now clutched angrily in his right fist.

" _Di immortales_!" Nico hissed, borrowing Annabeth's favorite swear as he sliced a chair in half out of frustration. "Styx! Styx Styx Styx!"

A rumbling sound snapped Nico out of his rage. Footfalls.

He whipped around to see the titan's familiar face staring at him through the building's blood-splattered windows. It had a sickly grin on it's face, it's cold, brainless eyes locked on Nico as if he were simply an appetizing hunk of meat.

 _That's what I am to these things,_ he thought sourly _. A treat. A piece of muscle and flesh existing only for them to gnaw on._

 _I refuse to be regarded in such a way._

Nico furrowed his brow, concentrating on the darkness around him. He had practiced shadow traveling as often as he could over the three years he had been here, and he could actually go quite a distance a number of times before passing out.

 _This should be a breeze._

His body faded to blackness, his being becoming one with shadows. An icy cold grip locked around him, trying to pull him into the darkness forever as the dead cried out to him.

 _Save us._

 _Help us._

 _Remember us._

Nico pushed the spirits of the fallen away as he slid through one batch of darkness to another. In no time sunlight was hitting his face as he stumbled from the shadow of a building, right behind the titan who had been hunting him.

The stupid creature had it's back to Nico, still focused on locating a human within the house.

The son of Hades caught his breath and locked his eyes on the titan's nape. The beast was kneeling, and it was only seven meters tall. Killing it would be doable for sure, he would have to be fast though.

Nico let out one more breath, before he charged forward. He leaped upwards, his foot landing squarely on the end of the titan's back. It was unrealistically hot, and his foot instantly began sweating. Ignoring the raging heat, he raced up the giant's back as quickly as he could.

The titan turned to look at Nico just as he sank his blade into its nape. It reached around and tried to grab the boy, but it was already dead by the times it's fingers knocked Nico to the ground.

He yelped, his body, ribs especially, tingling with pain. A three meter fall wasn't painless in the least, but nothing was broken. His lip and nose were bleeding, and he could practically smell his left side bruising.

"Nico!" A familiar voice cried. He looked up to see his little sister and Frank landing on a roof near him.

"Hazel!" Nico struggled to his feet.

"What happened? Where's your gear?" Hazel asked frantically.  
"Titan broke it." Nioc grunted. "I'm shadow travelling back to the wall to get another set if I can."

"Be careful." She said.

"Same to you." Nico's heart suddenly felt heavy in his chest. "Don't you dare die on me."

"Not a chance." Hazel smirked. "I didn't defeat dozens of immortals and monsters to be eaten."  
Nico nodded and stepped back into the shadows, letting the darkness grab ahold of him once more.

 _I hope no one notices this._

After a few more seconds of icy cold black, Nico stepped out of another shadow, however, his foot found only air.

"What the-" Nico barely managed to take in his surroundings before his balance gave way. He had appeared at the very edge of the wall, and that single step had sent him falling.

"Nico?!" A familiar voice cried. "What are you doing?"  
"Help me, dang it!" Nico replied as he plummeted down.

The voice that he realized belonged to Connie spoke again. "Use your ODM gear!"  
"It broke! Holy Hades!" Huge fingers suddenly wrapped around Nico's body, yanking him out of the air and towards the giant, grinning face of a titan. "Help!"  
"Hold on!" Connie yelled. He leapt off of his position on the wall and fired a wire into the titan's face. The titan tilted its head, as if curious to why a grappling hook had implanted itself in its cheek.

In two quick slices, Connie had slashed the titan's hand clean off. He grabbed Nico just before the dark haired boy could fall, and shot a wire back at the wall.

"You okay?" He asked as soon as their feet touched the top of the wall.  
"Yeah." Nico said. "Thanks for helping me out back there."  
Connie smiled gently. "No problem. Why don't you go talk to one of the officials and see if you can get some new gear?"  
"Alright. Good luck." Nico had only taken a single step before the sound of heavy footfall thudded through the air, sending vibrations through the wall and up to Nico's head.

~:~

"Oh my gods." Percy breathed, watching with baited breath.

Eren trembled with every step he took. Streaks of glowing gold, gleaming like a flame, pulsed under his skin. His eyes glowed a fierce green through the smoke and dust clouds.

He was doing it. The boulder hoisted on his shoulders, his arms supporting it, and he was approaching the breach.

"It's going to work." Annabeth began to grin. "We're gonna do it!"  
"Percy, Annabeth!" A male voice, Armin, cried. "Come on! We've got to defend him!"

"Right!" Percy barked, remembering his task.  
"We're on it!" Annabeth added. She leapt off the roof and fired a wire towards the nearest titan, a four meter with scrunched up eyes and choppy blonde hair, who clearly had its sights set on Eren. Annabeth landed squarely on its head, making it halt mid-step.

"Hey, ugly!" She barked, stamping her foot on its head. "Are you a the son of Achlys? Because your face is just sad!"

She sprang off of it, slicing its arm as she went for good measure. The titan reached out and tried to grab her, but the daughter of Athena was too quick for it.

"Ohh, you don't like that, do 'ya?" Annabeth backed away slowly, in the direction opposite to Eren. "Why don't you catch me and teach me a lesson?"

The titan seemed to like this preposition and began approaching Annabeth. She was dimly aware of Percy antagonizing and annoying a couple other titans when they tried to get close to Eren, and him leading them away, but she was taking her titan where everyone else was gathered. She had to completely focus on her surroundings, letting her guard down almost guaranteed certain death.

Suddenly, a titan hand smashed down in Annabeth's path. She halted as quickly as she could, avoiding being crushed by mere millimeters.

"Jerk!" Annabeth snapped. She tore through the titan's wrist, from the far right base of its palm to the left of its forearm and leapt over it. Blood spilled from the torn flesh, covering a considerable amount of ground in ruby red liquid.

The titan looked at her sadly and suddenly lashed it's fingers around her body, squeezing her tight enough to momentarily stun her.

 _Dam it,_ she thought as she struggled against the titan's hold _. My arms are pinned to my sides. I can't do any damage with my blades unless I can wiggle out of this._

Annabeth strained against the titan's iron grip, but to no avail. The titan's greedy black eyes were locked on her as it pulled her close to its mouth.

 _I am not dying like this!_

With panic flooding her senses and adrenaline pumping through her being, Annabeth bent her arm at the elbow, and yanked upwards as fast and with as much force as possible. The blade clutched in her right hand tore halfway through the titan's grip before Annabeth's arm could extend no farther.

The titan's grip loosened, letting Annabeth take gasping breaths she didn't even know she needed. The second she saw the steam rise off the titan's wrist, she whirled her blades straight through it's whole hand, fingers in all. She fell to the ground, white-hot blood splattering onto her as her feet touched down, while a titan finger landed next to her.

"Annabeth!" A familiar male voice cried. Blades drawn as she ran, Annabeth glanced over her shoulder to see Percy hopping off the corpse of the choppy haired blonde titan and start sprinting towards her.

"Yeah?" Annabeth replied as she dodged around the dozens of titans and soldiers that had corralled themselves at the edge of the village.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked as he pulled up next to her.

"I'm fine." She snapped. "Focus on yourself, not me, I can handle myself."  
Percy looked a bit miffed, but Annabeth didn't have time to concern herself with Percy's feelings. People were dying left and right, and she wasn't going to let her name get added to the list of the fallen. She veered right to avoid another ten meter titan that had a soldier locked in its hand, its mouth open and prey mere inches from the jaws of death. Annabeth dug her blades into the front of its foot, and with a swift jerk of her arms and a couple steps forwards, its foot from the ankle down was separated from its leg. It didn't like that, and started wobbling, dropping the soldier and hobbling backwards.

Annabeth fired a wire at a titan roughly three meters away and shot through the air, grabbing the soldier, a small man with scruffy red hair.

"Does your gear work?" Annabeth asked.

"Y-y-y-yes." The soldier replied.

"Then go!" She barked. The soldier nodded hurriedly and shot a wire at the wall and went zooming away, just in time for Annabeth to re-draw her blades and slice the nape of the titan her wire was lodged in.  
Suddenly, a titan roar ripped through the air, chilling Annabeth to the bone. She whipped around just in time to see Eren the fifteen meter slam the boulder into the breach, sending clouds of dust and rocks billowing outwards from the hole. The force that Eren used to plug the rock into place sent small cracks crawling along the wall, but it remained intact.

Not only intact. It was sealed. Closed off.

Annabeth stood there, trembling in shock. The hole was sealed. Their mission was accomplished. Armin's plan worked. The unthinkable had been done.

"We did it." Percy whispered, standing next to Annabeth.

"Yeah." Annabeth felt her eyes grow wet. "We did it."

Eren sank to the ground, his titan body beginning to steam. A small figure was perched on his neck.  
A long _bang!_ rang out, and the two demigods turned to see yellow smoke spiral into the air. The color of success.

"We need to get to the roofs." Annabeth said, turning and starting to run towards the village area.

"You go ahead." Percy replied, causing Annabeth to stop in her tracks. "I"m going to check on Eren."  
"Be careful." Annabeth sighed, and she continued her dash to the houses.

 _If this is a step forward for humanity,_ she thought as she zipped into the air _. Then why do I feel like something is terribly wrong?_


	19. Chapter 19

Nico buried his face in his hands, desperately trying to calm his rapid breathing.

 **Mitabi Jarnach**

 _Breathe._

 **Ian Dietrich**

 _Breathe._

 **Eliza Rylen**

 _Breathe._

 _ **Dayson Kenschwa**_

 _ **Amy Penski**_

 _ **Terrence Igniet**_

 _Breathe._

"Hey, you okay?" Jason asked, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder.  
 _No,_ Nico wanted to scream. _Everyone is dying. Dying dying dying. Dead dead dead. Gone. Gone. Gone._

 _Breathe_.

 _ **Michael Fallig**_

 _ **Catherine Torben**_

 _ **Jay Vogel**_

 _Breathe_.

"I-I-I-" He swallowed uneasily, his hands shaking like leaves in the wind. "T-t-t-there's j-j-just so m-m-much."

"Death?" Jason said, flinching like the idea physically hurt him.

Nico nodded shakily, not trusting himself to open his mouth out of fear that he would scream.

"Well we got yellow smoke." Jason sat down next to Nico. "So they didn't die for nothing. Eren's sealed the breach."

The news didn't even come close to lifting Nico's spirits.

 **Trau Rig**

 **Ken Junge**

 **Clay Dauren**

 _Breathe._

Nico fixed his eyes on a single grit of loose concrete on the top of the wall, struggling to keep himself out of a panic attack. _I can't take this._

 **Marco Bodt**

His breath hitched in his throat. He'd trained with Marco. He'd sparred with Marco occasionally. Marco consoled him when he had a break down over missing Will. Marco was his friend.

"AUUUGHHH!" Nico screamed, his voice sounded like that of a pained animal. "WHY? WHY ARE WE STILL HERE? I AM SO SICK OF THIS!"  
"Nico! Calm down!" Jason said hurriedly, grabbing the dark haired boy as he frantically shook and thrashed against some invisible force.

"NO!" Nico yelled, tears running down his face as he stared Jason in the eye. "MARCO'S DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD! WHY DOES THIS WORLD TAKE EVERYTHING? WHAT DOES THE UNIVERSE HAVE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN'T THIS JUST BE OVER AND DONE WITH? _WHY CAN'T I JUST DIE?"  
_ Jason tackled Nico in a tight embrace, rubbing circles on his back as the boy sobbed into his shoulder.  
"I-I-I-I-I-" Nico gasped through his splitting sobs. "I want to see Will again."  
This only made Jason tighten his grip on Nico. "I know. I know. I want to go home too. We only have to hold out for a little bit longer. We're almost done with this, we'll be fine."

"Liar." Nico choked. "I saw you. I saw you snap. You lost it. You killed everything in sight. I watched you. I watched you. Liar."  
Jason stiffened, but refused to release Nico. "I just wanted to beat the titans."  
"Beat the titans." Nico repeated as though the idea was a foreign concept. "Beat them. We can't."  
"We can Nico." Jason insisted stubbornly.

"Do you believe that?" Nico asked. "Or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"I mean it." Jason barked. Nico flinched away at his harsh tone, and quickly scrambled back to his original position, slouched over with his back to a small ledge on top of the wall.

"I'm sorry." Jason said gently.

Nico didn't respond. He simply tucked himself into a ball and squeezed his eyes shut as the names of the dead continued to flash through his mind.

~:~

"Hey guys!" Leo waved, bouncing up and down.

"Leo! Check that out!" Piper exclaimed, waving back. "Your leg looks awesome!"  
"Doesn't it?" He grinned, lifting his left leg in the air. Where there was originally just the stump of a leg was a metal replica of Leo's lost limb, made of multiple sheets of shining steel. It bent at the knee and spun a 360, making Piper feel a bit nauseous.

"Wow." Percy said. "That's cool."  
"I know, isn't it!" A manic glint appeared in Leo's eyes. "I sliced open the edge of where I had been bitten, you know, where it was clotted, and hooked up some wires to my nerves! I can move my fake leg as easily as I could my real one."

Piper turned around, holding her stomach and looking green. Even Nico flinched away.

"That's gross." Frank decided.

"I think it's pretty cool." Leo planted his robotic foot then spun some 360s again.

"Please, stop doing that." Hazel grimaced. "It's unsettling."  
"Okay okay." Leo stopped and stood normally. "So I'm hearing that the mission was a success?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded. "Eren sealed the hole, and the Scout Regiment showed up and helped clear all the titans out. They even captured two. They also took Eren to who knows where. Armin and Mikasa are asking around to see if anyone knows what they're planning to do with him, since that was never clarified."  
"So…" Leo bit his lip. "What comes next?"

"No clue." Jason sighed. "Though I've been wanting to talk to Mikasa and Armin about, well, us. About how we got here. They're the closest friends we have here. They deserve to know after all they've seen."  
"Are you sure that's the smartest course of action?" Annabeth asked. "Armin has seen Nico, Hazel, and Jason use their powers, right? And Mikasa saw Hazel and Jason's. They seem to be coping with the knowledge of us being out of the ordinary fairly well. Telling them that we're demigods from the past might be a bit more than they can take, and Zeus knows how they might react. We could end up imprisoned, our experimented on, or even killed. Besides, we don't even know if they'll believe us."  
"I feel like it's only fair that we tell them." Hazel said. "After all this, they might be able to help us, or we could help them."

"At least we'd have someone to talk to about it." Frank muttered.

"Plus, it would give them some sense of clarity." Piper said.

"Okay, are we in agreement, we tell them?" Jason asked. Everyone, even Annabeth, nodded.  
"So where are they?" Percy glanced around. "This may be the only calm moment we get for a long time."  
"Last I saw them they were in there." Leo pointed to a larger building off to the right. "I haven't seen them come back out, so I'd say it's our best bet."  
"Okay, be thinking over how you want to phrase this Jason." Annabeth said. "We want to get the news out as soon as possible in case there's another titan attack."  
"Right." Jason nodded, a determined gleam in his blue eyes. The demigods strolled over to the building, attempting to look as casual as possible.

"Hey, Nico." Hazel lightly tapped her brother's shoulder. "You don't look too good. Are you feeling okay?"  
"A lot of people died in that mission." Nico replied gruffly. "The amount of death is taking it's toll on me I guess."  
"I've felt it too." Hazel shrugged. "But I guess not nearly as bad as you."  
"Good. I had a mental breakdown earlier because of all this." He frowned. He noticed Hazel's concerned look and quickly said, "I'll be fine."

Jason tugged the door to the building open. There were tables scattered around, and people wearing the same outfit bustled around and delivered food.

"A restaurant." Frank observed. "I didn't know they still existed."  
As if on cue, five of the demigods' stomachs rumbled shamelessly.

"We'll get food after we find-"  
"Mikasa! Armin!" Annabeth waved frantically, completely cutting Jason off. He followed her gaze to see the blonde boy and dark haired girl standing on the other side of the room.

Armin waved a little and Mikasa nodded in their direction. Annabeth weaved between the tables and jogged over to them, the other demigods following close behind.

"Hey guys!" Annabeth tried for a smile. "How're you doing?"  
"Pretty good I guess." Armin smiled back weakly. "I don't suppose you've gotten any word on Eren?"  
"Oh, Eren. No, no I haven't seen him." She replied. "Anyhow, me and my friends need to talk to you right now."

"What about?" Armin said.

"Why Nico can summon the dead, why Jason can fly, and how Hazel managed to raise a barrier of crystals."

Armin's eyes widened. "Hazel did that? And Nico really was summoning the dead?"  
"Yes. Is there a table we can all sit at to talk this over? I haven't eaten in awhile." Annabeth surveyed the restaurant.

"Yeah, they have a separate room for larger parties." Armin nodded towards an empty doorway leading to a different room. "We can get something to eat while we talk."  
"Great." Annabeth grinned and led everyone into the room, where they all sat down. Armin watched her expectantly.

"Jason, do you want to-"  
"I think you'd be better at explaining than me." Jason interrupted. "Go ahead."  
Annabeth took a deep breath.

"Armin, Mikasa, are you religious?" She asked.

Armin seemed a bit surprised at the question. "No, I'm not. Hardly anyone here is."

Mikasa simply shook her head.

"Okay." Annabeth ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, a long long long long long time ago, gods existed. The gods of two separate...variations of humans, the Greeks and Romans, were real. These gods would sometimes leave the heavens, or wherever it was they were staying, and have affairs with mortal men and women. The children born from these affairs are called 'demigods', or 'half-bloods'. They possess some of the powers their godly parent has, but they're mortal. Well, that's what we are."  
"Wait- so- hold on-" Armin pinched the bridge of his nose and knit his brows. "So gods are real?"  
"Not anymore, no." Annabeth sighed. "If there's no one to believe in and worship the gods, they fade out of existence. That's why they're not here today."  
"Then how are you-"  
"I'm getting there. There are many different monsters and immortals that come in the whole package along with the gods. One of those immortals was named Kronos, and he was the master of time. He tried to take over the world once, but any army of demigods, including Percy, Nico, and myself, defeated him. Later on he possessed the form of another, much more powerful immortal, and he grew about twenty times more powerful. When all of us stumbled across him, he was all-powerful and still vengeful. He cursed us and threw us into the future, and he told us the only way to get back to the world we know is to solve the problem the future human race has found itself in. And now we're here."  
Armin's eyes were wide with shock. Even Mikasa looked surprised. The silence awkwardly stretched on for a couple of seconds, then a man in a waiter's outfit set down ten cups of water. Mikasa took hers and drank it all in one gulp. Armin didn't even move.

"So who are you the children of?" Mikasa asked, surveying them closely.

"Oh, I am a daughter of the Greek goddess Athena. She's the goddess of wisdom, wit, and crafts." Annabeth answered.  
"I'm the son of the Roman god Jupiter, god of the sky." Jason said.

"That explains the flying." Mikasa remarked. She turned her gaze to Leo.

"I'm the son of Hephaestus, Greek god of fire, blacksmithing, and totally awesome children." Leo wiggled his eyebrows.

Hazel elbowed him. "I am the daughter of the Roman god of the Underworld and precious metals, Pluto."  
"What's the Underworld?" Mikasa asked.

"It's where the spirits of the dead go when they die." Hazel darted her eyes. Mikasa opened her mouth as though to say something, but decided against it.

"I'm the son of the Roman war god Mars." Frank said. "Also, I have a family gift that allows me to shapeshift into animals."  
"I am the son of the Greek god Poseidon, the god of the ocean." Percy said.

Armin snapped out of his trance. "The ocean?" He repeated.

"Yeah." Percy soon came to a realization. "Oh, you've never seen the ocean, have you? Gah. I'm sorry, I'm an idiot."  
"You've seen the ocean?" Armin said in disbelief.

"Yes. In fact, I can be considered the prince of the ocean."

"What does it look like? Is it really endless? How deep is it? Is it actually salty? Is ocean water drinkable? Can you sail on it?" Armin slammed his hands against the table and stared Percy in the face.

"Uhhh...it's...I dunno-"  
"Armin, calm down." Mikasa set a hand on Armin's shoulder and pulled him back into his chair and looked at the demigod next to Percy. "Now, Piper."

"I'm the daughter of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love." Piper said, turning a bit red. "I have the ability to charmspeak, which basically means I can convince nearly anyone to do anything just with my voice."

"Son of Hades, Greek god of the Underworld and the dead." Nico said gruffly, glaring at the floor.

"Wow. That's- I can't- I need to-" Armin splashed a bit of water on his face, then proceeded to drink all of it in a single swig. "You're serious?"

Annabeth nodded and awkwardly picked at the straps on her legs.

"So you all have powers?" Armin said, his eyes wide.

"Yeah." Percy said. "Well, Annabeth is really smart, but no...mythological powers."  
She glared at him sourly, and he held his hands up in a surrender.

"I have to see them in action!" Armin exclaimed. "How well can you control your powers? How often do you use them? Do they require certain conditions to function properly? Do they have any limits? Are you able to-"  
"So there's no titans where you're from." Mikasa said, cutting Armin off.

"Well...yes and no." Annabeth answered. "Kronos, the guy that cursed us here, is a titan. He has family that are titans, but not this type of titan. They were smart, had clothing, immortal, kind of like the gods. The titans here though? They don't exist where we're from."

"This is so much to take in," Armin whimpered. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"You'll be fine Armin." Piper said gently. "Everyone's a bit freaked out at first. The feeling's only natural."

Armin shakily looked back up at her, his eyes wide and scared.  
"You guys grew up in this world." Jason looked between Armin and Mikasa. "Do you think this information will pose a threat to our lives if it were to reach the public ear?"  
"Hard to say." Mikasa frowned. "People would be wary of you, obviously. Some might even be more comfortable with you dead."  
Frank swallowed nervously.

"However, certain branches of the military may see you all as an asset for, again, obvious reasons." She continued. "I'd say keep it on the down low until we have more information."  
Jason nodded earnestly.

"Well then!" Leo said loudly. "What's a demigod gotta do to get a bite to eat around here?"

~:~

"Okay, Jason, what is everything you can do? Please include details such as limits and ideal conditions." Armin instructed.

Jason felt blood rush to his face. "Uh, Armin, is this completely necessa-"

"Yes." Armin said quickly.

"If you say so." Jason sighed. "I can fly. I can carry two people max while flying or using the wind, and I can do it everywhere except underwater. I can summon lightning, thunder, and storms. However, it's very tiring and I can't keep it up for long."  
"Demonstrate?" Armin smiled weakly.

Jason floated above the ground for a second, then touched back down. He tugged his sword out, held it up, and a bolt of lightning from a dark single cloud shot downwards and connected with the tip of it. The second the fork of vivid white electricity disappeared, a huge clap of thunder sounded.

Armin's eyes widened. "Incredible…" He breathed.

Jason stumbled over to the where the other demigods were sitting and dropped down next to Frank, his limbs feeling sapped and heavy.

"Gods I'm out of practice with the lightning thing." Jason groaned, stretching his arms.

"You did fine." Frank smiled.

Armin had wanted to see for himself what all of the demigods were capable of so he could generate possible military strategies with them, and, if needed, come up with an argument to defend them in case something happened. So after a meal of bread and stew (Hazel summoned some payment), the demigods, Armin, and Mikasa made their way over to a tucked away area of Wall Rose. Barely anyone was there, and it was roomy enough for the half-bloods to show off their powers.

"Okay, Piper. Make me do something out of the ordinary with your charmspeak. Mikasa, stand witness." Armin said. Piper got to her feet, a sly smile on her face. Armin noticed and quickly whimpered, "Uh, something harmless, mind you."  
Piper laughed. "Well duh! Okay." She cleared her throat. "Armin Arlert."  
Armin immediately tensed like a soldier awaiting orders.

"Imitate a chicken." Piper grinned.  
He looked a bit confused, then he bent over and folded his hands under his arms and stuck his head out.  
"BOCK! BOCK BOCK BOCK!" Armin screamed as he took long strides across the clearing, his eyes wide and dazed.

Piper grabbed her stomach laughing. "Oh my gods! This is awesome!"

"Piper, be nice." Jason said lightly. Chicken-Armin began slamming his nose into Mikasa's boot.

"Okay okay." Piper wiped a tear away and straightened. "Armin, go back to normal."

Armin froze, then he blinked back to reality to find his face on Mikasa's foot.

"Ahhh!" Armin squeaked and threw himself back. "What the heck?"

"You were a chicken." Mikasa said simply.  
"Sorry." Piper shrugged playfully.

Armin hurried to his feet and dusted himself. "Alright. Er- Hazel, let's see what you can do."

The curly haired girl stood up and stared at the ground, her brow furrowed in concentration. The earth rumbled, and a two meter spire of splendid, shimmering gold tore through the ground, sending up sprays of crumbling dirt and stone.

Armin's jaw dropped as he stared at the beautiful tower of gold.

"H-h-h-h-how…?" He breathed, his eyes widening in shock.

"You've got a lot of precious metals around here." Hazel shrugged. "It's pretty easy."  
"E-e-e-e-easy?" Armin whispered. "M-M-M-Mikasa, come here, I-I-I-I think I need to sit down."  
Mikasa helped Armin to the ground and patted his head for good measure.

"Is that hard to do?" Mikasa asked.

"No." Hazel blushed. "That wasn't, but the taller the order the harder it is to comply."

"Naturally." Mikasa nodded. "So there has to be precious metals nearby in order for you to do it?"  
"Yes. I can't just make natural resources appear." Hazel replied. "Just summon them when they're nearby. Sometimes smaller ones pop up around my feet when I'm experiencing certain emotions, I've got no control over that."  
"Hm." Mikasa rested a hand on the gold. "This is really valuable. Some people would kill for it."  
Hazel looked a bit uncomfortable. "I can send it back down." She said hurriedly.

"Yes." Mikasa shook her head as if she was just waking up. "That would be the best course of action."

The gold trembled and sank back into the depths of the earth, leaving a gaping hole in the ground.

Hazel kicked a few rocks into the hole as though she were hoping that they would fill it back up.

"T-t-t-t-this is the m-m-most insane th-th-th-thing…" Armin breathed, staring down at the pit.

"So we top Eren becoming a titan?" Leo grinned.

Armin paled.

"Okay, I'm guessing it's my turn." Frank sighed as he got to his feet. "Name an animal."  
"Uhh..hh..hh..uh…" Armin said helpfully.

"Cat." Mikasa said.

Frank sighed deeply. His nose and mouth elongated together into a small, rounded muzzle. Fur sprouted from his skin as his body shrunk to be only a foot tall.

Frank the cat meowed and lashed his tail through the air, his eyes unusually dark for a cat.

"Wow." Mikasa knelt down and extended a hand towards the white and black cat. Frank sniffed it and rubbed his head against her palm. "This is really Frank?"

The cat looked up at Mikasa and nodded before rearing onto his hind legs and growing back into a human.

"How was that?" Frank asked.

"How many animals can you become?" Mikasa asked.

"It works better if I'm familiar with the species, but practically any animal." Frank shrugged.

"Can you become a titan?" Armin questioned suddenly.

Frank blinked, looking mildly surprised. "I...I don't know. I've never tried."  
"Try." Armin commanded fearlessly.

"Armin, I don't think he should." Jason said. "If Frank can do it he might be seen, and he'll be taken away from us as well. It's too risky."  
Armin sighed, then turned to another demigod. "Percy, come on and show us what you got."


	20. Chapter 20

Hey everyone! So I had this chapter nearly finished when I published Chapter 19, then I got all the reviews mentioning Percy's earthquake abilities and, well, I felt compelled to write it out though I hadn't planned on it, so that's why it took a good amount of time to get this up.

Also, thank you all so much for the support. Your reviews are really kind and inspiring and are about 50% of my motivation to stop re-reading Eremin (yes I ship Eremin...Fight me) stories and dive back into this! That could've been phrased better but I hope you get what I'm saying.

So thanks, and enjoy!

Armin watched the water twirl through the air in fascination, his azure eyes glittering in amazement.

"Wow…" He breathed. He stretched his fingers out to graze the side of the liquid. A small spray of water shot from the churning donut-like shape.

"Are you just thinking about what you want it to do or what?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Percy shrugged. The water unlatched itself from its other end and reared like a snake. "But with more water I can do a lot more."

"Really?" Armin gasped, his blue eyes stretching wide.

"Yeah," Percy grinned. "I can form full on tidal waves and hurricanes-"  
"I read about those!" Armin exclaimed. "What else? Can you make it rain? Can you make water form right out of midair? Can you control all liquids? What about blood? Can you bloodbend?"

"Slow down Armin," Percy said. "And I can kind of bloodbend… I've done something similar to it before, and I can work with a majority of liquids. As for water out of thin air, no."

"What about earthquakes?" Armin asked.

Percy blinked in surprise. "Earthquakes? I dunno- I've never really tried."  
"Well, I can only speak from information I've found in books," Armin said. "So correct me if I'm wrong, but the ocean, wraps around most of the earth. From what I've read about earthquakes, they cause the entire world to shudder as though it were being uprooted. If the ocean has domain over most of the earth, and you can control it, then maybe you could cause an earthquake by making the oceans rage the best you can."  
Percy swallowed nervously. "I've got no clue if I'd be able to pull of something like that."  
"You blew a mountain up once," Annabeth added helpfully.

"Maybe you should try," Frank offered. "An earthquake would be a very helpful natural disaster to summon if we're ever in trouble fighting titans again."  
"Or it could be devastating," Mikasa put in. "Too much force could topple buildings, maybe even damage the wall."

"I think he should try it," Armin insisted. "If things start getting out of hand we can make him stop, or you could knock him out if worse comes to worst."  
Percy eyed Mikasa's well muscled arms and felt a bead of sweat form on his brow. "Maybe we don't do the 'knock him out' thing."

"I can judo flip him," Annabeth suggested.

"Or I could charmspeak him," Piper offered.

"I could set him on fire," Leo piped up.

"You can not set him on fire," Percy countered. "But okay, I'll try it."

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and sent his senses out for the familiar salty water of his father's domain. In what felt like days, but was mere seconds in reality, there was a tugging in the pit of his stomach. The tugging he only experienced when he was in control of sea water.

An image materialized in Percy's mind. A huge expanse of peaceful green waves, lazily shifting and glittering under the burning glare of the sun. A terrible sense of nostalgia settled onto the raven haired demigod. The image began to fade.

Focus, Percy scolded himself. He concentrated his energy into the thought of the water until he could practically smell the saltiness of the glistening liquid as it rested in the centuries old pits and devastations of the land it took residence in.

There were no sea spirits, no nereids or naiads Percy had to communicate with to ask permission in order to use and control the great body of water. The waves seemed to scream for him to harness them and have them unleash their rage onto the unsuspecting world around him.

And he obliged.

It was like every millisecond that passed drained his body of enough energy to fuel an entire Roman didn't even know if the ground really was shaking. Within three seconds his body felt like molten lead and he crumpled to the ground.

~:~

Hazel flopped onto her bed, her limbs feeling sapped and heavy with exhaustion. Not only had they fought titans for about two days straight, but Armin pushed the demigods to their limits with part two of the little "power demonstration" thing. Percy, Jason, Leo, Nico and Hazel all ended up passing out eventually, and by the time Hazel had fallen to the ground, Annabeth insisted no more demonstrations were necessary. Everyone had rented a place in a smaller hotel with some of the gold Hazel had summoned and was resting for now.

She tugged at her curly strands of hair, watching them spring back into place with a rather dry expression. Some part of her begged for sleep, while the other begged her to get up and go fight something. Frustration, sadness, and flat out exhaustion bubbled and festered inside her, making it very hard for her to calm down enough to properly relax.

 _Count sheep_ , one side of her mind said.

 _Investigate the titans!_ the other side screamed.

Hazel smashed her head into her pillow, growling softly. She pulled the covers up to her ears, and with a small frown on her lips, forced herself to sleep.

It was dark.

The air was hot and humid, and if this had not been a dream, Hazel was sure her hair would have curled to twice it's size.

She glanced around. Blood red stone made up walls like a cavern, and a faint orange glow came from behind her, illuminating her surroundings. It seemed to make up everything, to her left, right, and even above her. When her eyes drifted downwards though, her stomach seemed to drop from her body.

A long, seemingly endless void stretched across her vision. It seemed to radiate terror and evil, chilling Hazel to the bone.

 _Tartarus?_ She wondered _. No, that can't be right. This doesn't feel like Tartarus. But I know I'm in the Underworld...where in the Underworld?_

A feminine yelp sounded, and Hazel noticed a humanoid on the side of the pit. She appeared to be standing on the edge of a small outcropping of the pit, and a few chunks of musky red stone had fallen from where she'd been standing.

 _What in the name of Pluto is she doing?_ Hazel squinted at the figure, trying to make out her features.

The dream zoomed into the person's face. It was a teenaged girl. She had short black hair that was ragged and tangled, dark eyes, and pasley skin. She wore a simple dress that looked like it would've fit right in with Wall Rose's citizens, if not for the blood splatters and scandalously low neck.

She grappled at the side of the pit, obviously struggling to keep her balance. Her scared eyes swept around the void she had nearly fallen into.

 _This is weird._ Hazel thought. _Who is this girl?_

Suddenly, the girl's hair shocked upright in brilliant yellows and oranges, flickering and dancing. Her eyes shifted to a murderous red. Fur sprouted from her left leg as though she were a faun, but her other leg seemed to lose it's texture and grow shiny. Her jaw unhinged to reveal a series of wicked sharp fangs.

 _Empousa!_ Hazel realized _. Oh gods, tell me this isn't like most demigod dreams. I refuse to believe that there's monsters coming back. It can't be real._

The empousa disappeared in a torrent of angry red flames, and instantly reappeared on another ledge about ten meters above where she had been, about fifty meters from the edge of the pit itself.

She suddenly whipped around to meet Hazel's eyes. She snarled "Demigod!" and slashed Hazel's face with her claws.

"Hazel!" A familiar voice cried. Hazel bolted upright in bed and instinctively thrust her fist towards the source of the noise.

"Ow!" The boy's voice said. Hazel turned to see Leo, the small boy clutching his nose. "Dang it Hazel! I don't wanna build a prosthetic nose!"  
"Sorry sorry sorry!" Hazel said frantically. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah," Leo sniffed. He pulled his hand away to reveal a smudge of blood on his fingers and upper lip.

"Oh gods, I am so so so so sorry!" Hazel exclaimed. "I was having a bad dream and I was kinda tense I guess and I didn't mean it I am-"  
"Chill Hazel." Leo offered her a grin. "Serves me right for walking in like this."  
Hazel sighed. "Do you need something?"  
"Uh…" Leo fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. "Yeah...actually." He cleared his throat and awkwardly darted his eyes.

"...well?" Hazel smiled.

"Do you remember a long time ago when you...uh…" Leo flushed red. "When you drew that picture of Calypso? Back on the _Argo II_?"  
"Yes." Hazel nodded.

"Could you...er- recreate it?" He asked quickly. "I...I miss her. I haven't seen her face in years and...your drawing was really good."

"Aww, Leo." Hazel stood and rested a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Of course I'll redraw it for you."  
"Thanks Hazel." Leo smiled lightly. He went to his tool belt and pulled out a mechanical pencil and a smaller pad of paper. "I figured you could use these."  
"Sure. These'll do fine." She took the materials from his hands. "I'll get to work right away."

"Do you mind if I stay in here?" Leo asked. "I'm working on something and I don't wanna go back to my room."

"Why not." Hazel shrugged playfully. She sat down in a desk a couple feet from the bed and twirled the pencil in her hands. "I may need a refresher on that description of her though."  
"Okay." Leo plopped down on her bed. "Her face looks as though it was sculpted by a god, with high cheekbones and a small nose. She's got these almond shaped eyes framed by thick black lashes and…"  
As Leo ratted off the details, Hazel's hand flew across the paper, delicately dragging the pencil at certain angles and creating varying thickness for each feature. She shaded Calypso's eyes dark with a glimmer of love and a rare smile on her pouty lips.

In what felt like minutes, but was around an hour in reality, Hazel had copied Calypso's likeness onto the paper as though it were a photograph.

"Woah…" Leo breathed, lifting the paper to his face. His eyes grew shiny. "It's like looking at a picture of her. Thanks Hazel."  
"No problem." Hazel replied.

Leo folded the paper into eighths and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket. He wiped his eyes and sniffed a little. "I'd better get back to my room. Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."  
"I think it's already like, three AM." Hazel said.

"Then I'll see you when the sun's up." Leo shrugged. "Good night."  
"'Night." Hazel said as she settled back into her bed. "Get some sleep, okay?"  
Leo only smiled in response.

~:~

Hazel dreamed of the empousa again. It was almost out of the pit, and a sinking feeling in Hazel's gut said that wasn't a good thing.

She trudged out the door, her body still yearning to sleep. Frank, Piper, and Jason were all waiting in the hallway.

"Hey guys." Hazel yawned. "What are you doing?"  
"Waiting." Jason answered. "Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Leo are still asleep. Once everyone's up we're gonna get breakfast somewhere."  
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Hazel leaned against the wall next to Frank.

"It's no trouble." Piper shrugged. "Jason only got up once Frank turned into an octopus and nearly squeezed the life out of 'em."  
Jason turned a deep shade of red.

The door to Piper's right swung inwards to reveal Annabeth, dressed in her uniform with her curly blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders.

"You guys waiting?" She said as she yanked her door shut.  
"Yeah," Frank replied. "Now the only ones left are Leo, Percy, and Nico."  
"I'll get 'em." Annabeth said. She casually turned to another door and jerked it open. "SEAWEED BRAIN! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT OF BED! THERE'S A BLUE FOOD BUFFET!" She screamed.

There was some rustling and thumping sounds, and Percy, dressed in only a pair of pants, leaped from his room.

"Where? Huh? What?" He said frantically, whipping his head around.

Annabeth sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud, familiar sound.

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" A voice that was unmistakably Coach Hedges' yelled. The demigods whipped around to see Leo poking his head out of his room, grinning shamelessly. In his hands was a small bronze box with a speaker on the side.

"Is that what you were building?" Hazel laughed.

"Maybe." Leo smirked. "Seriously though. Percy, get a shirt."  
Percy blushed and snuck back into his room. Annabeth face palmed.

"VALDEZ!" A familiar voice barked. The door nearest Leo flung open to show Nico, with a bedhead and dressed in a simple pair of black shorts and a t-shirt. "I SWEAR TO THE GODS IF I HEAR THAT THING ONE MORE TIME, I AM GOING TO SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO THE FIELDS OF PUNISHMENT MYSELF!"

Leo shoved his speaker box into his pocket and smiled weakly. Nico muttered something probably explicit in Italian and slammed his door shut.

"Nico!" Hazel called."You should probably get changed!"  
"I AM!" Nico yelled.

"Wow." Piper frowned. "He doesn't sound too happy."  
"Can you blame him?" Annabeth said quietly. She awkwardly tugged at her jacket. "I dunno about you guys, but after everything that happened, sleep didn't come easy for me."  
"Yeah." Leo agreed. "Not to mention he's usually grumpy."  
Hazel and Jason threw a glare at him.

Percy exited his room, fully clothed this time in his uniform, though his hair was still messy and hanging in his eyes. Annabeth frowned and began furiously combing it with her fingers. Nico emerged in his uniform mere moments afterwards.

"Hold up," Percy said, staring at Nico. He jabbed his finger towards the boy's head. "What is _that_?"

Hazel followed his gaze to see that Nico's hair was partly tied back in a messy ponytail.

"Oh my gods." She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Nico, why don't you just cut your hair?"

Nico flushed deeply. "I'm kind of reluctant to cut my hair with a huge stygian iron sword, or titan killing blades, so this is how I keep it out of my face."  
"I'll cut your hair later," Piper said, drawing her knife and grinning at Nico.

Nico swallowed nervously, but quickly tensed back into seriousness. "What's the plan?" He asked.

"Breakfast, my friend from the 80s." Leo grinned.

"I was born in 1924-"

"I am so craving some waffles right now."

~:~

Much to Leo's dismay, there were no waffles. Only bread, fruit, and really expensive eggs.

"No waffles." He muttered darkly as he dropped into the chair beside Jason. "What is this, 1492?"

"Nope." Piper said, popping the 'P'. "It's 850."

Leo stared at her drily as he ripped off a chunk of bread.

"Okay," Percy said. "Let's get the fun stuff started. I had a demigodish dream last night."  
"Me too!" Hazel gasped.

"Same here." Jason added grimly.

"I-I-I-I had one too." Frank paled.

"Did anyone not have a demigodly dream?" Annabeth asked.

"Uhh…" Leo felt his face redden. "I didn't...er...sleep."

"Leo!" Hazel exclaimed. "You need to rest!"  
"Nevermind that right now." Annabeth said. "What was everyone's dream about?"  
"Mine was about an empousa climbing up the side of a huge pit in the Underworld." Percy said.

Hazel's face looked gray. "T-t-that's what I d-d-dreamed about."

"Oh gods, me too." Frank chimed in. "That's it. It was a demigodish dream. How are we even getting those?"  
"It makes no sense." Annabeth agreed. "And what about that empousa? Demigod dreams show real things."

"Monsters are coming back." Nico growled. "That pit was where Tartarus is supposed to be, but since it was literally his body and he doesn't exist anymore, it's just a huge gap in reality. It's just an endless void."

"How do you know?" Percy asked.

"I felt it." Nico replied. "We're lucky no flying monsters have formed yet."  
"Aaand... cue the gryphons and harpies reforming in the Underworld." Percy smashed his head into the table helpfully.

Nico glared at him. "Hopefully if and when the empousa gets out of the Underworld she'll be outside of the wall. If she's just now coming back she'll be just as confused as we were."

"We can't let our guard down," Annabeth said as she palmed an apple. "And we have to keep an eye out for any abnormalities."  
"Why now?" Jason said suddenly. "What's triggered them to come back to life now? What's stopped them from reforming before that's allowed them to come back now?"  
"I don't know," Nico sighed. He ran his fingers stressfully through his hair. "And I hate not knowing."

Leo shoved some bread into his mouth and chewed, but his appetite seemed to have evaporated the second empousai were mentioned. They were never good.

"Annabeth! Jason!" A familiar voice called. Leo glanced to the right and spotted Armin and Mikasa weaving between tables towards them.

"Hey guys," Annabeth said, setting down her apple. "What is it?"  
"Oh, nothing. Guess I'm just in the mood for a familiar face," Armin grinned weakly.

"Really?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Armin nodded and pulled up a chair.. "How did you guys sleep?"  
"No," Leo answered.

Armin looked at him strangely. "What does that even-"  
"He didn't sleep," Hazel said hurriedly. "And the rest of us…"  
The demigods exchanged worried looks, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what the glances meant.

 _Was it wise to tell Armin and Mikasa that ancient monsters were coming back to life?  
_ "We slept as well as you'd expect," Annabeth said finally.

"Fair enough," Armin shrugged. "I'm sorry if I kind of pushed you guys yesterday. I was just so excited, I had to see everything you could do."

"It's fine," Hazel said gently. "If anything, being exhausted made it easier to sleep."  
"Oh, okay then," Armin paused and fidgeted awkwardly in his seat. "If you say so."  
"Armin, what's on your mind?" Annabeth asked, taking a bite of her apple as she studied the blonde boy.

Armin clasped and unclasped his hands nervously. "Do...do you remember what it was like? In the world? When you weren't confined to these walls because of stupid titans?"  
Everyone's guilt was immediately visible on their faces. It was obvious Armin would be eager to know about what life was like before humanity had to fear titans, and it wasn't that they weren't anticipating the subject to pop up in a conversation eventually, but it felt so weird...

After a long stretch of awkward silence, Percy said "Yeah."  
"We travelled all over the world," Piper said wistfully. "Leo built a boat that could sail and fly. We defeated an evil goddess that planned to destroy the human race."  
"I can't take all of the credit," Leo grinned cheekily.

"No one gave you all the credit." Nico stated.

"But aren't goddesses immortal?" Armin asked. "How can you defeat an immortal being?"

"Destroy them." Percy growled darkly. "You can reduce them to beings less powerful than a fly. Yes, they're immortal, but they're not invincible. We blew Gaea up and Piper commanded her to sleep forever."  
"I blew her up," Leo muttered.

"You _died_." Nico retorted.

"Hold up," Mikasa said suddenly. "Leo, you died?"  
Leo's gut twisted horribly. "...Yes?"  
"But...you're….here." Her eyes seemed to widen.  
"Hehe...funny story…" Leo cleared his throat and felt blood rush to his face. When he spoke again, he barely took a breath between words. "I kinda had a dragon that kinda revived me with a magical potion and made me better so I'm not dead anymore."

"Magical potion…" Armin breathed. "Does it still exist?"  
"Gods no," Piper said.

"Oh." Armin's face fell, and Leo immediately felt a pang of sympathy. This boy had probably lost all of his family, the thought of a potion that could possibly bring them back must be enthralling.

"Wait," Armin said. "What's a dragon?"

"You don't know what a dragon is!?" Percy exclaimed.

"No, are they a type of animal?"

"I'll show you later," Frank said. "I can turn into a dragon."

"But….what is it?" Armin asked again.

"It's like a lizard," Piper began. "But about a hundred times bigger and super muscled, and with a much longer neck and scales. Most of the time they have horns, and really sharp teeth. Oh, and they have these huge, leathery wings kind of like a bat's and they can breathe fire."

"And you owned one?" Armin gasped.

"I built one," Leo corrected. "He was made out of gold. His name was Festus, and he could kick some serious butt. Also, he likes Tabasco sauce."  
"Tabasco sauce?"

"I may have already asked this but….how are the gods gone if they're immortal?" Mikasa asked.

"Belief." Annabeth said. "They exist as long as some remnant of them exist. Maybe their temples were being preserved or their domain of power was still strong and influential, and their stories and kids live on; then they thrive. If not, they fade."

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy said. "Y'know how those old kooks worship supposed wall goddesses?"  
"Yes…"

"Do you think-"

"Gods no!" Annabeth buried her face in her hands as if she were trying to remove the thought from her mind. "Enough gods! Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Norse, I can't handle _wall_ goddesses!"  
A few moments of awkward silence settled onto the group.

"What's Egyptian?" Armin asked.


	21. Chapter 21

"Cadet Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and Jason Grace! Hop to!" A man called from the top of the stairs. Jason tore his gaze away from Piper and towards the source of the voice. Mikasa and Armin got to their feet, and Jason quickly followed suite.

"Sir," Mikasa said.

"You're ordered to attend and act as witnesses in today's deliberation," The man continued. "Follow me."

"I'll come back as soon as it's over," Jason told Piper as he began to follow Armin and Mikasa to the courtroom.  
"Are you sure I can't come with you?" Piper asked. "This is my area of expertise after all."  
"They didn't call you, and I don't want you to get in trouble," Jason replied.

"But what if-"  
"Jason," Armin said. "Come on."  
"Coming!" Jason rubbed the back of Piper's hand. "Sorry Pipes. Try not to worry."  
Piper smiled weakly. "Good luck."  
Jason dashed over to Mikasa and Armin, who were slipping into the courtroom.

The room was huge, with green walls with swirled, intricate designs decorating it in a darker shade. At the front of the room, a large, polished wooden desk like structure with three chairs loomed over the rest of the people already seated. A balcony stretched out over the desk, where a few people were already standing. Rows of wooden fences and benches framed both sides of the room, with concrete tile flooring in the center, and a giant set of double doors in the very back.

Rico Brezenska, the silver haired Garrison soldier who'd been on Eren's defense squad for the Trost recovery mission, was standing behind the first set of rails to the right. Mikasa, Armin, and Jason all slipped past her and stood there, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

Jason glanced around the room, taking in the faces and clothing of the people around him. Multiple people with fine clothing and round stomachs stood across from him, along with three men in drooping black robes, some soldiers with /MP uniforms, and some of the Garrison.

"Are those merchants?" Jason asked quietly, bumping Armin with his elbow and shifting his gaze towards the larger men.

"Yeah," Armin answered. "And that's Nile Dok, head of the MP regiment. And those are…"  
"Wall cultists," Mikasa muttered darkly. "Darned pests. Why would they be here?"  
"Well, over the past five years their influence has increased dramatically," Armin said.

"That's stupid," Jason said helpfully. "Is there anyone else I should know about?"  
Armin stood on his toes and whipped his head around, scanning the room. "Yeah. The head of the Scout Regiment and Commander Pixis are here."  
"Who's the head of the scouts?"  
Next to him Rico scoffed. "You don't know the head of the Scout Regiment?"  
"I grew up in a sheltered home," Jason said hurriedly.

Rico rolled her eyes before returning to staring straight ahead.

"The head of the Scout Regiment is Erwin Smith," Armin continued. "He's over there. Really tall, blonde hair…"  
Jason peeked over Rico's head and spotted a man that matched Armin's description. His blonde hair was neatly combed, his face structure regal and handsome, and...were those his eyebrows?  
"Big eyebrows," Jason remarked.

"Jason!" Armin scolded.

"Sorry sorry," Jason tried for a smile. "Who's the guy next to him? Wow, he is short."  
"That's Captain Levi," Armin explained. "Some call him humanity's strongest soldier."  
"He's like, five feet tall."  
"I never said he was humanity's tallest soldier."

"Fair enough."

There was a sudden slam, jerking everyone's attention away from each other and to the back of the courtroom.

"Eren," Mikasa said faintly.

The brunette boy stood just in front of the double doors. His eyes were sweeping the room frantically, finally settling on a large painting on the ceiling Jason had failed to noticed, depicting multiple shirtless men hacking away at one another, some clad in a foreign set of armor.

The courtroom was full now, with various faces displaying various emotions all fixated on the boy. Accusing glares, stern gazes, and fearful stares needled him like a spray of bullets.

"Alright," one of the soldiers behind Eren said. He smashed the muzzle of his musket against Eren's back, forcing him forward. "Move it!"  
Looking beyond annoyed, Eren slowly walked down the aisle and into the center of the concrete tile. Jason noticed the boy was standing on an area of elevated land, and one of his guards carried a long metal pole with slits in the bottom.

"On your knees, now," The first soldier ordered. Eren obliged bitterly, sinking to rest on the balls of his feet. The second soldier slid the metal pole into a socket in the ground, the slits covering the chain looping Eren's wrists together, rendering him immobile. The teen shifted his wrists back and forth, as if testing the new form of captivity.

Once again, his wide eyes scanned his observers, only this time he met Mikasa, Armin, and Jason's gaze. Jason waved weakly.

A loud creak echoed through the room as a door opened. It seemed as though everyone snapped to attention at once.

A man stood atop the large desk and set down a discolored sack before settling into his chair. He had a large build and slicked back grey hair with a scruffy mustache and beard. He wore a simple white button up with brown suspenders, and a pair of small back glasses rested on the end of his nose, framing his sunken, wrinkled eyes. He rolled up his sleeve and studied the paper in front of him.

"Alright, shall we begin?" He said.

"Who's that?" Jason whispered.

"General Darius Zackly. Now stop talking!" Armin hissed.

Zackly adjusted his glasses and and cleared his throat. "Your name is Eren Jaeger, and as a soldier you have sworn to give up your life when called to, for the good of the people. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Eren answered.

"As an enlisted soldier in a time of war, military protocol demands your trial be held as a court martial. As commander of our armed forces this matter is left to my discretion. Thus I will decide," He looked up, his eyes as sharp and piercing as a hawk's. "Whether you live, or die. Any objections?"

"No sir," Eren said, averting his eyes.

"Your astuteness is appreciated," The general continued. "Let us proceed."  
Jason swallowed nervously.

~:~

"Hold still!" Piper cried. "I'll cut your neck if you keep this up!"  
"It's uncomfortable!" Nico retorted, still absent-mindedly squirming.

"Who cut your hair when you were younger then? How'd they do it?" Piper demanded.

"My big sister," Nico snapped. "Who's dead, by the way!"  
"Well what'd she do to get you to stop moving?" Piper attempted to cut the end of his coarse black hair once again, but nearly ended up hacking an entire lock off due to the boy's fidgeting.

"Not breath down my neck maybe!" Nico barked.

"I'm going to shave your freaking head if you don't stop moving!"

"I'm going to shave your freaking eyebrows with a sword if you don't stop- GYAHHH!"

Nico leapt up from the bench, frantically scratching at his nape.

Hazel sighed in exasperation. "Nico, do you want it cut or not?"  
"Y'know what?" Nico exclaimed. "Leave it! I can work with a ponytail if it means none of this bull-"  
"Hey!" Annabeth yelled, throwing the door open. "Guys! Jason's back!"  
Piper tossed the scissors onto the counter and sprinted past Annabeth. Jason had been called out to some kind of trial over Eren recently to act as a witness, and the rest of the demigods were antsy with anticipation of his return.

Jason stood in the hallway, looking deeply disturbed over something. He kept staring at the ground, his eyes dazed and distant. His arms were crossed defensively over his chest and his stance was tense, as though he were expecting an attack.

"Jason!" Piper exclaimed. He whipped around.

"Hey Piper," Jason said. His eyes drifted away from her and he jumped back three feet, his face registering pure terror.

Piper glanced over her shoulder to see what had scared her boyfriend, but Nico was the only one there, and Jason _liked_ Nico.

"Jason, are you okay?" Piper asked. "You seem a bit off."  
"Sorry guys," Jason said awkwardly. "But the trial was just so…." He shivered. "There was this little guy and he just-"  
"What was the outcome of the trial?" Hazel asked.

"Scouting Regiment got Eren," Jason answered. "They're gonna try to retake Wall Maria using him."  
"Oh thank the gods," Hazel said. "Anyway, who's the little guy again?"  
Jason cringed at the memory. "He's like, a five foot three killing machine. He beat Eren up while he was chained to a post in the middle of the room. Me and Armin had to hold Mikasa back."  
"Wow," Piper said. "That's insane."  
"It won the premier over," Jason said. "But he knocked out one of Eren's teeth. He certainly didn't hold back in the least."  
"And you thought I was him." Nico stated drily.

"Just at first!" Jason said hurriedly. "I mean- you're both kinda short-"  
"Short," Nico repeated, his face locked in a deadpan.

"And you've both got this withering death glare and-"

"Really."  
"Yeah! You both look like you're gonna kill someone at any second-"  
"Jason," Annabeth whispered. "If you keep this up, I think he might kill you at any second."

Jason blinked and realized Nico's hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, his eyes glittering with frustration.

"Sorry," Jason reddened.

Nico sighed in exasperation. "Y'know what, I don't even care."

"Any idea on when we get to join the Scouts?" Annabeth asked.

Jason shook his head grimly. "Not a clue. Maybe Armin and Mikasa know."

"Wanna ask 'em?" Piper tried for a smile.

"Sure," Jason said. "Where's everybody else though?"

Annabeth shrugged. "They went out this morning and haven't come back. I wonder what they're up to…"

~:~

"IT'S COMING BACK!" Leo screamed. The gryphon released a loud screech and went tearing through the air, its gleaming claws outstretched to seize a demigod or mortal.

"You don't say!" Percy barked as he intercepted the beast with a titan killing blade. The monster seized the blade in its talons and continued to pump its wings. Its momentum forced Percy back, but his grip on the blade didn't falter. The gryphon reared and shot back into the sky, leaving a trail of blood where the blade sliced its palm.

Mortals were screaming and running, trying to get inside their houses or farther into the wall. A member of the Wall Cult was shouting about how the monster was a demon and would corrode the sacred walls should its talon touch Wall Sina.

"I hate these things," Leo growled. "Frank's the only one actually able to combat it in the sky, and he's not doing too good."

As if hearing his name had summoned him, Frank the gryphon shot to the ground, morphing into a human just before impact and landing expertly beside Percy.

"Are you okay?" He asked the changeling.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Shouldn't you try being a horse now?"

"We want to kill it, not scare it away," Frank insisted. "It may just fly to the inner wall and start wreaking havoc there, where we can't stop it."  
Percy cursed under his breath. "I'm gonna try ODM gear."  
Not giving the others time to respond, Percy fired a wire into the roof of the building nearest the gryphon. The monster let out an unearthly shriek, panic contorting it's eagle features.

The son of Poseidon rocketed through the air and uncapped his sword mid-flight. He swung it mercilessly, and the gryphon, too shocked by the demigod practically flying, didn't move until it was too late. The blade sliced through it's body with a satisfying hiss and the gryphon's form exploded into a cloud of dust. Percy landed on the roof and watched the dust be whisked away by a faint breeze. He leapt down from the roof and rejoined his friends.

"Do you think it'll just immediately reform or something?" Leo's voice held a panicked edge. "'Cause if we have to go through Tartarus and mess with the Doors of Death or something-"  
"I don't think so," Percy growled. "The doors are unchained and closed, and Gaea, the giants, and titans aren't around to open them."

"Yeah," Leo continued. "But-"  
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Percy snapped.

Suddenly, something seized Frank's leg in an iron grip. The son of Mars whipped around, his body tense and panic rising in his chest.

A small girl with familiar ginger hair clung to Frank's leg like it was a lifeline. Her eyes were wet and stretched wide with terror, and her complexion was pale and sickly.

"Macy?" He exclaimed.

"I'm scared!" She whimpered, tightening her grip on the demigod's leg and squeezing her eyes shut. "There's a flying monster in the wall that's gonna kill us all!"  
Frank rested a comforting hand on the small girl's back as tears began to fall from her eyes. "It's okay Macy. The monster's gone now."  
Macy slowly opened her eyes and surveyed the barren terrain. Upon realizing that the monster was indeed gone, Macy sank to the ground with a sigh of relief.

"Macy!" A gruff voice cried. "Get over here this instant!"  
The demigods peeked up to see a large man with slicked back brown hair and a gaze like steel angrily approaching. Frank instinctively laid a hand on Macy's shoulder.

"Who're you?" Leo asked, surveying the man like he was assessing an enemy.

"Who am I?" The man yelled incredulously. "I am the most successful butcher in this town, Arnold Gray!"  
"Don't care," Percy shrugged. He slid his blades into his gear. "What's your connection to Macy 'ya dingus?"  
Frank gave Percy a sour look.

"I am her father!" Arnold Gray huffed, his face growing beet red with rage.

Frank knelt next to Macy. "Macy, do you know this guy?" He asked gently.

Macy glanced behind her and flinched upon seeing the burly man, but she nodded slowly.

"See!" Arnold exclaimed. "She's mine! Now give her here-"  
"Macy!" A woman screamed. She sprinted past Arnold Gray and captured Macy in a loving, protective embrace.

"Chloe?" Percy said, surprised.

Chloe Dare glanced up from her daughter and met the demigods' eyes. Realization struck her face, and with Macy still locked in her arms, she quickly got to her feet.

"We've gotta get out of here," she said frantically. "There's this creature flying around-"  
"It's okay," Frank said calmly. "We killed it."

Chloe's eyes darted across the sky, searching for the monster. "Thank god. So you guys are military now?"  
"Yup," Leo grinned. "We've been living the full experience. I even got half of my leg bitten off!"  
"Leo!" Frank scolded, elbowing the boy.

"Uh, but you're leg is still there," Chloe perked an eyebrow towards Leo.

"It's robotic," Leo took his boot off and revealed the glistening steel mechanics. "It does everything my old leg did and more."  
"May I feel?" Chloe crouched down and held her hand about Leo's prosthetic tentatively.

"Knock yourself out," Leo shrugged.

"HEY!" Arnold Gray barked.

"Oh no," Chloe groaned. She gently set Macy down at Leo's feet and stood back up to face Arnold Gray. "What do you want?"

Arnold sneered. " _I_ want to make these hooligans get their hands off _my_ daughter!"

"Oh use your dang eyes Gray!" Chloe hissed. "They're military, and her friends!"  
"Well what is she doing with them? Surely her _mother_ would have a hold on her!" Arnold barked.  
"She slipped away from me in all the chaos! Besides, you weren't exactly being the champion father! You're only here because you saw her!"  
"It's more than you did!"  
The demigods' gazes bounced back and forth between the two like their eyeballs were being knocked around by paddles.

"What do you think we should do?" Leo whispered as the man and woman continued to bicker.

"I dunno," Percy replied. "But I don't like this Arnold guy."  
"Me neither," Macy said.

Frank frowned. "Why is that?"  
"Mr. Gray and Mommy both take care of me, but Mr. Gray is really mean about it. He makes me run errands and clean and cook and when I mess up he yells at me and he pulls my hair and he's even hit me a couple times…" Macy trailed off, fingering a strand of her fiery red hair.

"Well, I think that settles it," Percy said. With no further explanation, he stepped over to Chloe and Arnold's conversation.

"Hi!" Percy smiled like a psychopath and promptly punched Arnold right in the face. Blood spewed from the man's nose as he went stumbling backwards.

Macy yelped and hid behind Leo.

"You have hereby and forever onwards lost all custody over the child Macy Dare," Percy snarled. "As a member of humanity's army and as a decent human being, those words are law and should you ever break them you will find yourself the recipient of grave punishment. Understood?"

Arnold, clutching his nose and wearing an expression of unfiltered rage barked back, "You don't have the power to do that! You're still a cadet! I-I-I-I can tell from your uniform!" He frantically pointed at Percy's chest.

The son of Poseidon suddenly snagged Arnold Gray's shirt in his fist, his usually playful green eyes dark and stormy. "I am speaking on behalf of a higher up who knows what you do to that girl, and he's unhappy. I am as well, so you will respect what I tell you or I swear to the gods I will _kill_ you."

A bead of sweat trickled down Arnold's face, but he didn't protest despite the utter rage on his face.

With a chest aflame with an explosive, bitter emotion the other demigods didn't expect, Percy shoved him back to the ground.

~:~

Nico absent mindedly twirled his skull ring. He had lost everything else. Other than hazy memories, his sword, and occasional pangs of nostalgia, the ring was the only thing remaining from the world he'd come from. He'd grown even more attached to it than he used to be.

"Hi!" A cheery voice called. "It's Nico, right?"  
Nico turned around. Standing behind his bench were two girls. One was small and beautiful, with silky golden hair and sparkling azure eyes. The other was tall, with short, choppy dark brown hair, tanned skin, and a spray of freckles across her cheeks.

"Yeah," Nico replied. "You're Krista and Ymir, right?"  
"Yup! Do you mind if we sit here?" Krista asked.  
"I don't care," Nico shrugged and turned back to his drink.

The two girls plopped down next to him, Ymir never releasing her hold on Krista's hand. Nico might have asked about them if looking at the two didn't bring on such a heart wrenching longing for Will.

"How've you been since Trost?" Krista questioned.

"Fine," Nico replied. He took a sip of his apple juice.

"Are you sure? I know you were friends with Marco."  
"If that's what you're worried about you should be talking to Jean," Nico stared at the table.

"All it took was his boyfriend's death to break ol' horse face," Ymir said.

"Ymir!" Krista scolded.

"You got a boyfriend Angelo?" Ymir continued.

"Ymir!" Krista repeated.

"It's di Angelo actually," Nico stated. He gazed at his own reflection in the cup. "And yeah, I guess."  
"Is it Eren?" Ymir asked. "I knew it. No way was that suicidal maniac straight."  
"Nope, not Eren," Nico retorted. "He lives someplace else. I haven't seen him in three years, and the only way I can see him again is if we wipe out the titans."  
"That's so sad!" Krista exclaimed.

"Yeah," Nico muttered. "It is."  
"Why do you have to kill all the titans in order to see your dude?" Ymir gave Nico a strange look.

"It's just how it is!" Nico barked suddenly, a spike of unfamiliar rage penetrating his chest.

The girls eyed him warily.

"Sorry," He apologized halfheartedly, defusing his frustration. "Didn't mean to yell."

A painfully awkward silence made itself known as each person struggled for the right thing to say.

"You must miss him a lot," Krista said finally.

"Yeah. More than a lot," Nico's eyes began to burn.

"Well I'm sure you'll see him again!" She exclaimed suddenly.

Nico flinched.

The blonde suddenly seized Nico in a hug. "I'm really sorry about him though."

Ymir rolled her eyes, but she slung an arm around Nico and Krista. "I hope you find 'im I guess."

With a knot of emotion clogging his throat, Nico fought his tears and relaxed. "Thanks."


	22. Chapter 22

The transition from cadet to the Scouts was a painless one for Nico. He kept his eyes down, spoke only when spoken to, and the trip to the isolated castle where they were currently quartered passed smoothly. The new scouts were boisterous with excitement from their new position, cheering and drinking and toasting.

But all Nico could think about was the short man he'd passed in the halls, with neat black hair and cynical eyes. Death dripped from his hands, foul and glaring. Nico couldn't help but stare as he walked away, and he knew the man could feel his gaze. He was Levi, the man Jason had taken him for after the trial.

"Hey Nico, come on, at least try to have some fun," Jason said gently, easing into the chair next to Nico.

"I'll pass, I'm tired anyway," he remarked drily. He felt Jason's disappoint like heat from a fire. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Alright I guess. Get some sleep," Jason sighed as Nico left. A part of him longed to be included in the few carefree hours the night offered, maybe down a bottle or two just to see what it was like, but he knew he could only kill such a party. And so he left the main building and made his way to the barracks, the golden light pouring from the windows the only light while clouds shielded the moon and stars. He could hear whooping and hollering from the building, and wondered vaguely if anyone had noticed his leaving. Jason might mention it to them, or maybe Krista and Ymir would come looking for him again.

"Tch," Nico scoffed at himself. He kicked the grass under his feet sullenly. As if.

The swishing of grass under another pair of feet snapped Nico to attention. He whirled to look behind him, where a woman in a Scout uniform with muddy red hair tied back was strolling casually up to him.

"Hey recruit!" She smiled brightly. "Newbies are usually always either drunk and happy or depressed on their first night. I take it you're the latter?"  
"Not exactly," Nico relaxed. "I just don't like parties."  
"Man, me neither," she laughed and held out her hand. "I'm Hange."

Nico's breath caught for a second. "Uh, Nico."

"Well Nico," Hange shook his hand with vigor. "It is nice to meet you!"

"And you," Nico said, for manners' sake.

"Were you on the Trost recovery mission?" She inquired. The two had fallen into a steady walk alongside each other.

"Yeah, my gear broke while I was fighting though," Nico frowned at the memory, tensing as he remembered titan's fingers around him, how very delicate his bones felt under the massive pressure. The nausea that floored him as the onslaught of death continued, his nervous breakdown to Jason.

"Really? How did you survive?" Hange's eyes lit with fascination.

"Lots of luck-" a branch crunched to Nico's left. He halted and squinted into the darkness, his fingers already poised on the hilt of his sword. A cold breeze brushed them.

"Who's there?" Nico barked. HIs gut was heavy with a dreadful sinking.

Slowly, the grass rustled and the darkness began to give way to shape. A woman, who couldn't have been older than twenty, with short black hair tangled around her face and bruises littering her skin. Her hands trembled, the nails ripped off and raw, oozing blood, and her dress was shredded near the ends and worn against her form.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Hange's voice took more authority and edge to it, and her stance tensed.

The woman before them swayed uneasily on her feet.

"Are you alright?" Hange asked. "Do you need medical attention?"  
No response. The woman made staggering, labored steps toward them, her uncoordinated feet crossing and tripping over each other.

"Can you hear me? Where did you come from?"  
The words had scarcely left Hange's mouth when the woman snapped her head up to meet Nico's eyes. A cold spike pierced his chest. Those were not human eyes.

Hange didn't even have time to step back before the empousa lunged at him, her teeth sharpening to a point and claws shooting from her fingertips.

Nico sidestepped just in time to avoid the gnarled claws. The empousa snarled, her eyes redder than Ares. She stalked carefully, her individual bronze and goat leg clopping unevenly.

"What, what is," Hange's eyes swelled, but not from fear. Terrible curiosity bloomed in her gaze.

"Stay back Hange," Nico warned. He held his sword level with the empousa's chest, never letting his eyes leave her face.

"You foolish half-blood," she cackled, her laugh rough as nails on a chalkboard. "Don't you realize what is happening? What you have started?"  
Nico sprung forward to slice at the monster, but she dodged easily, despite her injuries and mismatched legs. "I haven't tasted a young man's flesh in so long," she hissed, unable to keep a maniacal grin from stretching on her face. "Come to me, let your troubles fade away."  
"Go back to Tartarus," Nico scowled. He sprung forward again, summoning a wall of bones to keep the empousa in place. His sword cut through her shoulder, and she howled a scream of torture. Her head reared and her nails ripped at Nico's arms, but to no avail.

"You don't know what you've done," she was frothing at the mouth, eyes blazing like an awful sun. "I will crawl right back out of that pit and I will rip you half-bloods limb from limb."

Nico only skewered her further, until her shriek died and body sank to ash. The wall of bone crumbled and he dropped to his knees, exhaustion suddenly a lazy beast on his shoulders.

"Nico," Hange showed none of her early friendliness. Even after just defeating an undead demon single handedly, her expression frightened him. She snagged his shirt in his fist, and he met her piercing eyes through the glasses.

"You will tell me what just happened. Right now."

~:~

Percy was reminiscing and twirling water from his glass around his finger when Armin knocked on the door.

"Come on in," he invited, and let the water fall back into his cup.

Armin's round eyes peeked through the doorway. "I, uh, I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm good at talking," Percy grinned. "What can I do for 'ya?"

"I was going to ask Frank this, but I don't want to interrupt him. He looks like he's having fun, and you're the only one not celebrating with everyone else besides Nico, and I don't know where he is," Armin rambled off his sentence.

"Shoot," Percy said good naturedly.

"Do you really think Frank can turn into a titan?" Armin questioned warily. "Because if he can, he might just be the biggest asset we have in this fight and we have got to tell someone."  
Percy felt his smile sink. He didn't know the limits of Frank's abilities, could he really give Armin a straight answer?

After a moment's consideration, Percy answered. "I think he can. We know he can turn into other fantastical, unnatural creatures. What makes titans off limits?" He leaned forward in his chair. "But I don't know about telling people. Even if he can transform, what's to say he'll end up like Eren? If we tell them about Frank, we tell them about all of us. And that just might get us killed."  
"I'm sorry, but I just can't see you being killed," Armin protested. "You've fought off immortals, right? Surely you could handle anything these people could throw at you. I mean, you started an earthquake the other day!"

"I suppose," Percy sighed. "But that's not the route we want to take. We want to work with the people here, not fight them. The only win-win outcome in all of this is eliminating the titans. Then we get to go back home, and you guys will be free of your walls." He laughed at himself a little. "Listen to me, I don't know jack about strategy. You should be talking to Annabeth or Jason or someone with a mind for this."  
Armin hesitated, biting his lip for a second. "Don't take this the wrong way Percy, but you're wrong. I've watched you in battle, and you're much smarter than you give yourself credit for."  
"Right back at you."

They sat in an easy silence for a second. Armin's nervous fidgets and frantic glances reminded him of a younger Grover, before he'd received Pan's blessing. His heart ached bittersweetly. How much time had passed since he'd seen his old friend? Was time even the same back home?

"The officers are planning the next reconnaissance mission tomorrow," Armin said. "We're all supposed to clean the grounds and tend to the horses. If we're going to test Frank, it has to be then. We don't know what our next opportunity will be."

Percy regarded the blonde boy. "That sounds fine by me. Run it by Frank and we'll be good to go."

"Okay," Armin nodded. "If he's up for it, we'll meet to test it out in that wooded area east of the barracks during our lunch break. I'll tell Mikasa."

"I'll see you then."  
"Bye. Thanks, Percy," Armin smiled gently before he left, softly closing the door behind him.

Would Frank agree? The gentle tempered boy didn't object to much, he'd probably be fine with it. And then what? Even if Frank couldn't turn into a titan, would Armin still press them to come forward about their abilities?

Percy grimaced sourly. He couldn't deny the strategic appeal of it. If people knew what they could do, plans could be formed for the purpose of giving them the advantage in fights. Fewer lives could be lost, the Scouts, humanity, would triumph.

But there was a reason mortals were kept separate from the world of the gods. If they could see such power, ripe for the taking, who was to say they wouldn't steal it for themselves? Or destroy what the feared and could not understand? Corruption happened in people, and if it put his friends in danger...Percy simply couldn't imagine. They could be kidnapped and used as tools, not as soldiers and certainly not as people.

He grit his teeth in frustration and threw his glass at the wall. It shattered with a resounding crash that seemed to bring Percy back to earth. He kept the water aloft in the air.

Tomorrow would change everything.

 **A/N**

Nope, I am not dead.

As you can probably guess, I lost a ton of motivation for this story. I forgot it existed up until I'd get a new review (I know, I'm a reliable writer aren't I?) But I got a streak of inspiration and pounded this chapter out. I know it's not good enough for the amount of time I've been on what I guess you can call a hiatus, and I hope just as much as you that I can start uploading this more regularly again. I forgot how much fun it was to write this, and how excited I am about the upcoming scenes. So I hope you aren't too mad and can forgive me for such an awful break between updates, and I can only hope you continue to read and enjoy my story.

Again, I am so sorry, and thank you so much for reading!


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